Looking Into Your Eyes
by Musical-mutiny
Summary: Heather Miller just needed a little get away from the train wreck that her life had become recently, so she took a job as a nanny. She had no idea what exactly she was in for when she arrived at Heelshire Manor and met little Brahms Heelshire.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Heelshire Manor

**Chapter 1: Welcome to Heelshire Manor**

Watching the trees fly by from the back of a taxi, Heather Miller let out a sigh of content. She needed this little getaway after the year she'd had; a fresh start, a new beginning.

At this very moment she was on her way to her new job at the Heelshire Manor where she would be spending the next few months looking after little Brahms Heelshire, an eight year old boy who, according to his parents, couldn't wait to meet her.

Heather was rather excited to meet Brahms as well. She loved children very much, that was what she had gone to school for, she had a degree in early childcare development and education, it was also why she had decided to take the job as the boy's nanny.

She was jostled from her musings when she noticed the Taxi driver take a turn leading them towards a large gate with a large H in the center. A man came forward on the other side of the fence and opened it for the taxi to enter.

That path leading up to the Heelshire home was a mess of trees on either side of the cobble stone driveway, and it seemed to be never ending. As they pulled to a stop in front of the manor Heather was awed by its building.

The Manor grew out of a well manicured lawn. Its nascent stone walls were a pale grey and were barren of the moss or ivy that clung to the walls of the older homes in the village. The grey brick that made up this manor clashed perfectly with the red shingles that adorned the roof. Its large oak door was double wide and was sheltered under a wide wrap around porch supported by pillars; and above those pillars sat a balcony that looped the entire dwelling.

All in all it was beautiful. In all her twenty-four years Heather never dreamed she'd be living in a place like this, no matter how briefly it was to be.

Heather jumped in fright when she was brought out of her thoughts by the taxi driver knocking on her window. She opened the door and stepped out.

"My apologies miss; I didn't mean to scare you."

Heather shook her head and smiled, "That's all right I was admiring the house and hadn't realized we had stopped."

The driver nodded as he pulled her luggage from the trunk, "Understandable, miss. It is a lovely old place." He finished pulling her last suitcase out and turned to smile at her, "Now how about we get this luggage inside and you can meet the family, hmm?"

It took all of five minutes to get everything Heather brought into the house. Unfortunately the Heelshires had stepped out for a bit, so Heather had to leave the luggage in the front parlor until they returned and informed her on where to put it all.

Once all of her things where inside, the driver bid her goodbye and left.

The inside of the house was just as lovely as the outside and Heather wished she could take a look around, but she didn't want to seem rude by exploring without their permission so she decided to wait in the sitting room with the rest of her belongings for the Heelshires to return.

While waiting, Heather decided to pull out her copy of _Pride and Prejudice _as a way to keep occupied for the moment, and before she knew she had become immersed in the words of Jane Austin.

"Hi." Heather jumped let out a squeak in fright turning to look in the direction the greeting had come from.

It was a young man about her age. He was quite attractive with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, and he was growing a bit of stubble out as well.

He smiled at Heather nervously, "Sorry, believe it or not, I was... I was actually trying not to scare you."

Heather chuckled and stood up to face the man, placing her book in the seat she was just occupying, "It's alright, I should have been paying better attention."

He stepped forward and offered his hand for her to shake, "I'm the grocery boy… ah well grocery man. I own the store actually." He rambled nervously, still holding onto her hand, "Oh, I should probably mention my name, I'm Malcolm."

Heather grinned at him, "Heather, I'm here for the nanny job."

Malcolm finally released her hand, "Nice to meet you, Say I've got some groceries to put away in the kitchen, if you want to join me?" He offered, "I can give you a tour of some exotic locations...such as the pantry and bread bin." He paused, turning to look hopefully at her, "Does that interest you?"

Heather laughed and nodded her head, "Yes thank you that sounds much nicer than sitting her all alone. Lead the way."

Malcolm turned around and began heading back for the kitchen, with Heather following behind, "You are American, correct?" he asked.

Heather nodded as she looked around, "Yeah, This is my first trip outside of the country."

They made it into the kitchen and Heather began helping him put away the food. "Alright, so let me guess…Montana?"

Heather smiled at the man as she grabbed the carrots, "Alabama, actually." she motioned over to the basket on the counter, "In this, right?"

Malcolm nodded, "Yep, right in the basket. I'm usually so good at these things. I've got a touch of the gift."

Heather turned back around to face the man, "The gift?"

"Prognosticator, clairvoyant, whatever you like to call it. I had a grandmother that read tea-leaves. My mother read palms, so..." He shrugged and continued unpacking.

Heather had the distinct feeling that this man was trying to flirt with her, "So what do you read?" and she had decided she was going to let him.

"What? Me?" he questioned looking almost embarrassed.

She laughed, "Yes you."

"Chewing gum."

"What? Really?" Heather asked.

Malcolm smirked at her, "We don't get to choose our gifts, Heather." He moved closer, rounding the island in the center of the kitchen, "Come on; If you'll allow me...Let me show you."

"You want to read my gum?" Heather asked, amused.

"Yes, I am going to read your gum." He nodded in affirmation.

She sighed, "Okay," and popped it out of her mouth and into his waiting hand.

Malcolm looked down and studied the gum, "Interesting teeth marks. Have you had braces?"

Heather chuckled, "Yes."

He nodded, "Yes, I see that you're a writer, from Montgomery, Alabama. It looks like you've come here to be inspired by the English countryside and to get away from the hustle and bustle of your life in the U.S. of A."

"No." she shook her head with a small laugh.

"Okay let me give it one more go then. Say did I get anything right?"

"Nope."

"Alright then, one more try. Ah okay, I see what went wrong. It's very obvious now. I see a dark past. On the run from someone, are we?"

Heather's smiled disappeared immediately, but she was quick to replace it with a fake one, "Missed again, would you like to go a third round?"

Malcolm chuckled and threw her gum in the trash, and the two of them went back to unloading the groceries, "No I think I'm done embarrassing myself for one day. I'm afraid that was my best attempt at flirting. Believe it or not I'm actually considered charming in this country."

Heather threw back her head and laughed, "I can believe that."

He chuckled, "It's amazing that any of us manage to procreate at all really."

She looked over at him with an amused smile, "Bread?"

He pointed, "In the cupboard behind you."

"So," Heather started turning back to face Malcolm, "What are the Heelshires like?"

He let out a fond smile, "Well they're nice, you know...very generous. As good a people as you'll ever hope to meet."

Heather nodded along with a small smile, "And Brahms? What's he like?"

Malcolm paused and looked at her thoughtfully, "Brahms, he is…I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but…" he was cut off by the sound of someone entering the kitchen.

Heather looked up and is greeted with the sight of an elderly woman. She smiled and walked over with her hand raised, "You must be Mrs. Heelshire. It's so nice to finally meet you."

The woman gave a small, tight smile, "Is that your luggage crowding the parlor?"

Heather's smile turned a bit nervous, "Oh yes ma'am, I wasn't sure where you wanted me to put it so I just left it sitting there."

"Hmm. Malcolm," Mrs. Heelshire called, "would you mind terribly, helping Miss Miller move her things to her room?"

Malcolm nodded, "Sure."

The two of them followed Mrs. Heelshire back into the parlor where Heather's luggage was. "Brahms is very excited to meet you Miss Miller; he's never met an American before." Mrs. Heelshire commented as she led the way.

Heather smiled at the older woman, "I'm very excited to meet him as well."

Mrs. Heelshire turned and looked at the young lady, "You have a very different accent than what we were expecting, Miss Miller. Where are you from again?"

Heather turned and smirked over at Malcolm, "Alabama, Mrs. Heelshire."

Malcolm just rolled his eyes at her playfully. Once they arrived back in the sitting room Malcolm moved to grab her two suitcases, and began making his way up the stairs to the room Mrs. Heelshire told him Heather would be staying in.

Heather went to grab her purse and book only to pause, "That's odd."

"What's that Miss Miller?" Mrs. Heelshire questioned.

Heather turned back to face the woman, "I could have sworn I left my book sitting right here on the chair, but it's not there anymore."

Mrs. Heelshire gave another tight smile, "It'll turn up; Brahms most likely took it. He's a rather playful boy, and he probably couldn't pass up the opportunities to read something new." At that Mrs. Heelshire looked a bit nervous, "I do hope that it's a book that he would be permitted to read."

Heather nodded, "Its Jane Austin's _Pride and Prejudice, _he should be okay to read it; though, I'm not sure how much an eight year old is going to understand. What with thinking girls are infested with cooties still."

Heather chuckled and managed to pull a small, forced laugh from the older woman. "Indeed," She agreed, "Now come along, we've kept Brahms waiting long enough." She motioned up the stairs.

Going up the stairs they past by a rather large portrait of the family, "Is that Brahms?" Heather asked rhetorically, "He's a handsome young boy."

"Thank you, Miss Miller." Mrs. Heelshire replied but didn't slow her stride.

They enter a large room where a man, Mr. Heelshire she guessed, was leaning over a chair speaking to someone, most likely Brahms.

"Daddy." Mrs. Heelshire called as they entered the room and moved closer to the elderly man, "Miss Miller, allow me to introduce you to Mr. Heelshire."

The man nodded and smiled, "Miss Miller."

Heather smiled back at the elderly man, "Very nice to meet you, Mr. Heelshire."

"And this is our son, Brahms." Mrs. Heelshire informed her as they both moved out of the way.


	2. Chapter 2: Hello Brahms

**Chapter 2: Hello Brahms**

Heather stared in shock for a moment. It was a doll, a porcelain replica of the little boy from the painting. These people were insane… but then who had the boy been in the painting? Maybe they had a son a one point but had lost him and to battle with their grief they created this doll.

If that was the case, Heather didn't want to be rude and insult them, and she really needed this job and the money they were offering. So she gave a warm smile and bent down at eye level with the doll, "Hello Brahms, my name is Heather; I've been looking forward to meeting you. I have a feeling we're going to get along just fine."

She straightened back up and smile at the Heelshires, who gave her sad smiles back.

"I see you've already met Brahms." Malcolm said as he entered the room.

He walked closer to Brahms and shook the doll's hand, "How you doing Brahms?" but didn't bother to wait for a reply, there wouldn't be one, "Now you take it easy on Miss Heather, she's come a long way to meet you."

He straightened back up and faced the Heelshires, "I'll be off then, bills on the table and the rest of Miss Miller's luggage has been put in her room." He looked over at Heather and smiled, "Pleasure to meet you Miss Miller, and I'll see you on my next delivery."

Heather smiled back, "See you then."

"Thank you Malcolm." Mrs. Heelshire said.

"Of course." He replied before leaving.

Once he was gone Heather turned her attention back to the Heelshire as Mrs. Heelshire started to speak, "Well Miss Miller, we might as well get started. I have a lot to go over with you." She then picked up the Brahms doll and looked over at her husband, "If you'll excuse us, daddy, I'm going to show Miss Miller to Brahms room and go over a few things with her."

And with that Mrs. Heelshire led Heather from the room.

"You'll be all alone out here. Do you think you can manage?" Mrs. Heelshire asked as she started to lead her down the hall.

"Yes ma'am, that won't be a problem." Heather assured her.

"Hmm," she nodded and continued up to the third floor, "We've had a number of potential nannies come through already. Brahms rejected them all, though none of them were as young or pretty as you." Mrs. Heelshire complimented.

Heather blushed slightly, "Thank you."

They made it into Brahms' room and she slipped the doll into some pajamas, "You'll wake him at 7 o'clock each morning and you will dress him."

Heather nodded along with her and she diligently watched the woman.

"You find his clean clothes behind you." She said as she slipped him into bed.

Heather reached out and grabbed the clothes and laid them at the bottom of the bed. She then moved towards Brahms. She felt so awkward doing all of this for a doll, but she didn't want to upset the older woman.

She decided to just pretend like she was taking care of a real child, "Brahms its time to wake up!" she slightly louder that her usual tone, and picked the doll up. She set him on the side of the bed and began undressing and redressing him into his new clothes.

Once done, Heather picked the doll up and held him close, just like she had seen Mrs. Heelshire hold him.

"Well Miss Miller, I'm rather impressed you did quite well." Mrs. Heelshire complimented as she took Brahms back and led Heather out of the room and down the hall to the study.

Mrs. Heelshire placed the doll in one of the chairs, "Brahms has three hours of lessons five times every week and I like to start by reading him some poetry. Do you know any Miss Miller?"

Heather nodded, "Oh yes ma'am, I'm an avid reader. My favorite poet would have to be Edgar Allan Poe."

Mrs. Heelshire hummed in agreement, "Yes he was a wonderful poet, dark but enchanting. Though I would prefer you not read his darker works to Brahms, but anything here you can read to him and it must be done in a loud, clear voice."

"Yes, of course." She agreed loud and clear.

"Excellent," Mrs. Heelshire nodded in acceptance, "next is music appreciation."

They heard a small clink, and looked over to see that the Brahms doll had tilted over.

"Oh no Brahms, you must sit up straight, like a good little boy." She straitened the doll back up and turned to face Heather, "Music, Miss Miller, I don't know how Brahms would go on without his music. It's his world. Of course, he likes it rather louder than I prefer, but it gives him so much joy I don't dare take it away from him."

Mrs. Heelshire turned on the vinyl player, and music started blasting through the room. Heather had to fight not to cover her ears.

After a few more seconds, Mrs. Heelshire turned the music off, "Would you like to join us for lunch, Miss Miller?" Heather smiled kindly, "That would be lovely, Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunch was an awkward affair for Heather with the Brahms doll being seated directly across from her, Heather felt like he was staring at her the whole time. It was during lunch that the Heelshires informed her that they were going away on holiday together, something they hadn't done since Brahms was born and that was the reason for the nanny.

Heather promised that Brahms would be in good hands while they were away, and that seemed to sooth the elderly couple a bit.

Once lunch was over Mrs. Heelshire informed Heather that she would need to keep all leftovers in the freezer, before letting her know that Mr. Heelshire would explain the rest of her duties, and then she picked up the doll and left the kitchen.

The elderly man requested that she follow him outside so he could show her the traps. He opened the back door and ushered her outside into the garden.

"We do our best to keep up the house." He began as he started picking up traps and dumping them into the trash back Heather was holding, "Oh, and by the way, we don't use the fireplaces anymore."

Heather looked at him confused, "Why ever not?"

"Bit of a hazard." He answered giving her a kind smile, "And regrettably, the last tradesman we had, actually, he managed to paint the windows shut."

He chuckled at the thought, removing a huge rat from one of the traps and moving to throw it in the bag, only for its tail to slap against Heather's hand.

She let out a little scream and dropped the bag, darting a couple of steps away. Mr. Heelshire looked at her, shocked, and then he started to laugh heartily, "I'm sorry, my dear, but it's only a dead rat."

Heather blushed, "Sorry, just never been a big fan of rodents." She told him as she reached out to pick the bag back up.

Mr. Heelshire continued to chuckle as they moved along, "Personally, I don't think that all of this is necessary, but Mrs. Heelshire is convinced that the rats will get into the walls. And Brahms, of course, he's never been very fond of animals; he has always been very shy, very timid."

Heather looked up, only to see Mrs. Heelshire staring down at them. Heather lifted her hand and waived at the elderly woman, who hesitantly returned the greeting.

She then went back to refocusing her attention on Mr. Heelshire, "I know how this must look to you, Miss Miller, and to be completely honest I'm not sure how it all came to this. Little by little and then all at once, I suppose."

He looked a little sad and Heather's heart went out the man, "What I'm trying to say, is that whatever it might look like on the outside, our son is here. He's very much with us. Do you understand, Miss Miller?"

Heather nodded, "Yes Sir, I understand." She said compassionately.

The man smiled down at her, "Good, that's very good dear…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,

Look upon a little child.

Pity my simplicity.

Suffer me to come to Thee.

God bless Mommy.

God bless Daddy.

God bless Heather.

God bless Me.

Amen."

Heather stood outside the door listening to the couple put the doll to sleep. They spoke quietly to Brahms before Mrs. Heelshire turned to face Heather, "Could you give us a moment alone to speak to Brahms privately?"

Heather smiled at the woman, "Yes ma'am"

The elderly woman smiled sadly at Heather and closed the door. Heather turned around and rested her back on the wall next to his door, waiting. She could hear muffled voices coming from the room, but she wasn't going to bother trying to eavesdrop, though at one point she could have sworn she heard a child's voice.

Before she had more time to dwell on it the door was wrenched open and the Heelshires exited the room, "He wants you, Miss Miller. He's chosen you if you'll have him."

Heather grinned brightly, "I'd love nothing more than to be Brahms' nanny."

She smiled and hugged Heather tightly.


	3. Chapter 3: Just you and me now

**Chapter 3: Just you and me now** The next morning Heather woke up and decided to take a quick shower, having been too tired to take one last night, before leaving the room to bid the Heelshires goodbye.

However, as soon as she stepped out of the room she heard a commotion coming from the doll's room and decided to investigate.

Heather was hesitantly making her way down the hall when she heard Mrs. Heelshire start to yell, "Brahms, what have you done? How could you?"

Heather rounded the corner and looked through the doorway to see what had happened, only to find Mrs. Heelshire on her knees in the center of a completely destroyed room and she looked as though she was about to burst into tears.

Heather looked at the room in shock and confusion, what had happened? Was their a break in? Or did the Heelshires do this to keep up with their charade?

"Wait till I tell daddy! I can't believe you did this…" Mrs. Heelshire scolded the doll as though he had actually done it, "Mummy has to go now, and you have to be a good boy." She caressed the doll's face lovingly, "Because you promised us you would."

Heather gasped and jumped in fright as she felt someone touching her arm. She whirled around to be faced with a solemn Mr. Heelshire.

"Mr. Heelshire" She breathed, placing her hand on her chest.

"I apologize if this all seems rushed, Miss Miller, but it's been so long since we've been on holiday and we're quite anxious to be off." He seemed a bit nervous as he led her down the hall, "Besides, Brahms seems so fond of you. I only wish we had time to explain to the idiosyncrasy of a child as unique as our Brahms. But, you'll pick it up, I'm sure."

Heather smiled kindly, "I'm sure I will."

Mr. Heelshire took some paper out of his pocket, "I've got something to help you along. A schedule, if you will. The rules, Mrs. Heelshire was kind enough to write them out, you see?"

He unfolded the paper and handed it to Heather, who took it and began reading them over, "Now it may seem a bit silly, but it is imperative that you follow them, because Brahms is not like other children." he continued explaining as he led the way downstairs, "He can be…particular. I'm afraid we may have indulged him a bit over the years."

They finally reached the hall to the front entrance and Mr. Heelshire's nervousness hadn't dissipated in the slightest, if anything it seemed to grow the closer they got to the door.

"Come along mummy!" he called up for Mrs. Heelshire before turning back to her, "Malcolm will be by once a week with groceries and, of course, your payment. I'm sure that he can answer any other questions that you could have." Heather smiled and nodded along, "I'm sorry, I'm a bit off today; it's been so long since we've gone anywhere. It's…"

He cut himself off as Mrs. Heelshire approached them with Brahms in her arms.

She looked so sad and a bit frightened as well as Mr. Heelshire moved closer to her and gave the doll a kiss on the head before turning back to face Heather, "Be good to him and he'll be good to you. Be bad to him an…"

"She will be good to him." Mrs. Heelshire cut him off and turned to look at her beseechingly "Won't you, Miss Miller."

Heather smiled compassionately at the two, "Yes, of course, I'll treat him like he's my own son. You two don't worry about us, we'll be just fine." She assured them as she took Brahms from Mrs. Heelshires arms.

Mrs. Heelshire leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Heather, "I-I'm s-so sorry." She whispered in her ear, her voice cracking.

Heather froze at the sound of fear in the elderly woman's voice. What was she afraid of? What was she apologizing for?

Heather opened her mouth to ask the woman, but was cut off, "Come along, my dear. It's time we left." Mr. Heelshire said as he picked up their luggage and made his way for the door.

Mrs. Heelshire released Heather, sighed and nodded in agreement before following her husband out.

Heather walked with her and stood on the porch with Brahms as she watched the couple get into the taxi and leave.

Heather waited till the taxi was out of sight before walking back into the house, "Well it's just you and me now, Brahms."

She walked into the parlor and sat down on the couch placing the doll next to her. Heather sighed as she looked down at the doll, she truly felt sorry for the Heelshires, it was quite obvious they felt like this doll was their son, an she didn't want to disrespect that by not doing what she was requested and being paid to do.

Heather decided, she had come here to take care of a little boy and that was what she was going to do, she would follow the rules and take care of Brahms like she had promised, even if Brahms wasn't real.

Heather pulled out the paper Mr. Heelshire had given her with the list of rules on it and looked it over.

**1\. No Guests**

**2\. Never Leave Brahms Alone**

**3\. Save Meals in Freezer**

**4\. Never Cover Brahms' Face**

**5\. Read a Bedtime Story**

**6\. Play Music Loud **

**7\. Clean Traps **

**8\. Only Malcolm Bring Deliveries **

**9\. Brahms is Never to Leave **

**10\. Kiss Goodnight **

Heather nodded and smiled over at the doll, "These rules don't seem too hard to abide by, do they?" Then she frowned, "Except that traps business, but I suppose it has to be done."

She slid the doll a sly smirk, "Don't suppose you'd want to take care of those rat traps for me, would you?" Of course there was no answer from the doll, just a blank look, "I didn't think so."

She stood up taking the doll with her, "How about some breakfast, hmm?" she asked as she made her way to the kitchen, "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

She sat him down at the kitchen table and began making breakfast, "I hope you like pancakes, Brahms. They're my favorite."

Once Heather finished eating she wrapped up the leftovers and placed them inside the freezer before picking up Brahms, "How about some reading, hmm?" she asked as she made her way into the study.

"Now, what would you like for me to read? Heather asked as she sat him down in one of the chairs, "Let's take a look at our options." She stood up and began scanning the shelves for something interesting, "Ah ha!"

She turned around to go sit down in the seat across from Brahms only to find Brahms sitting on the couch. Heather stared in confusion for a moment but shrugged it off, thinking she probably placed him there and forgot.

She took her seat next to him and began reading, "Chapter one, ONCE there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them…"

Heather continued reading for much of the afternoon, only getting up once to make herself a snack before getting re-immersed in the magical tales of Narnia.

When lunch time rolled around, Heather finished the chapter and put the book down before picking Brahms up and moving towards the kitchen, "So how do you like the story so far, Brahms? It is one of my favorite, you know? My mother used to read it to me when I was a little girl."

She got to the kitchen and placed Brahms down in the chair then started making herself a sandwich, "How about after lunch, we take a break from reading and clean the traps, then you can listen to some music while I unpack?"

And that was just what they did, once Heather finished her lunch she went outside to clean the traps, oddly enough, when she went to check them they were all already empty.

She then moved to the study to turn on the vinyl player, and she and Brahms left the room and moved up to her bedroom. She sat him down on her bed while she began unpacking her things, the sounds of Mozart blasting through the manor.

Once she finally unpacked the last of her belonging it was time for start preparing dinner. Heather picked the doll up and left her room to head for the kitchen, "What do you feel like having for dinner tonight Brahms?"

As she was becoming accustomed to, there was no reply, but Heather had expected that.

"You know, I'm still feeling a bit jetlagged, so why don't we just make something simple, hmm? How does some fettuccini alfredo sound? Good?"

Heather went about making dinner as she continued her one-sided conversation with the doll. Somehow, speaking to the Brahms doll made her feel not quite so alone in the big empty house.

Once she had finished dinner and tidied up, Heather placed the leftovers into the freezer and then moved to pick the doll up and leave the kitchen, "I think it's about time for someone to be in bed. And by someone I mean me." She teased as she made her way to Brahms' room.

She changed him into a pair of pajamas and tucked him into bed, "How about one more chapter from our book, then its lights out for you."

The doll didn't respond as Heather went to grab their book from the study and once she came back, Heather sat down in the rocking chair and began reading.

As promised she only read one chapter before marking their place and setting the book aside.

"All right then," Heather commented as she stood up, "Good night Brahms." She hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh as she bent down to place a kiss on the dolls forehead. Heather straightened back up and moved to turn out the light shutting the door behind her and making her way to her own bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4: 'Yes, I am single'

**Chapter 4: 'Yes, I am single'**

This routine continued on for the next few days, with Heather waking up every morning at seven and fixing breakfast, she would then spend most of the rest of the morning reading the Narnia Chronicles to the doll, before she would break for lunch, and clean the traps. Though there hadn't been much to clean, the traps hadn't seemed to be catching anything the whole week.

Heather would then turn on some music for Brahms while she went to check the mail and did some light house work.

That would last a couple of hours, until it was time for dinner, and after dinner Heather would get the doll ready for bed and read one more chapter in the book before kissing the doll goodnight and going to bed herself.

On the fifth day of her stay, Heather had left the doll inside listening to some music while she went to check the mail. She reached the end of the driveway, grabbed the mail from the box and moved to head back inside only to stop short at the sight of a car pulling up to the gate. Window rolled down and inside the car sat Malcolm.

He smiled brightly at the young woman, "Need a lift?"

Heather grinned, and opened the gate for him to enter before climbing into his car, "If it's not too much trouble."

He scoffed playfully, "For a pretty lady such as yourself, nothing is too much trouble."

She laughed, "You smooth talker."

The reached the house and Heather helped Malcolm carry the groceries he brought inside before going into the study to grab the doll and turn the music off, "Sorry to disturb your music lesson, Brahmsy, but we have a guest." She informed the doll as she made her way back to the kitchen and placed the doll in one of the chairs, and then she proceeded to help Malcolm.

At the moment she was helping him empty the freezer from all the leftovers, "So, if all this food is going to get thrown away, why do they want it frozen?"

Malcolm shook his head as he held the garbage bag open, "Not all of it goes to waste, Mr. Heelshire eats some of it. He's always been the less strict one about all of this." he said motioning to the doll.

Heather nodded, "speaking of…" she started, "You could have warned me, you know. Instead of letting me go in there unprepared."

Malcolm smirked, "What? And ruined the surprise?"

Heather laughed and gave the man a light shove, "Yeah thanks for that, great surprise."

"Oh," Malcolm started and he reached into his pocket, "speaking of surprises, here's your first weeks pay." He handed her a envelop with some money in it.

Heather smiled and took it from him, "Thank you, but I have to ask…" she trailed off nervously.

Malcolm nodded his head seriously, "Yes, I am single. Shocker, I know."

She grinned brightly and laughed, "That's good to know, but I was actually wondering, what's the story with…" she trailed off again and motioned towards the Brahms doll.

Malcolm sighed, "Come on, I want to show you something." he said as he motioned out the back door.

Heather hesitated, turning to look at the doll, but decided to leave it there. They wouldn't be gone long.

Malcolm led her further into the garden to a headstone.

**Brahms**

**1983-1991**

**…he shall not perish,**

**But have everlasting life.**

"There was a fire, and Brahms didn't make it out." Malcolm sighed sadly, "On its eighth birthday. It was such a tragedy, and the doll turned up not long after." Malcolm turned to face her, "I know it must seem strange. I mean it is bloody strange, but it's all harmless."

Heather nodded sadly, that poor family, "It's a way for them to cope."

Malcolm sighed, "I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a child."Heather's heart clenched and she had to fight back tears at his words.

"So he died twenty years ago?" she asked, changing the subject, and he nodded, "He'd be around our age. They've lived like this for twenty years?" She felt such pity for these poor people.

He hummed in agreement, "And they've been looking for a nanny for the last year." He looked over at her and gave a half smile, "You're probably going mad in this house, aren't you?"

Heather laughed, "Well I have been having conversations with a doll, so I would say yeah, I'm well on my way to becoming 'mad'."

Malcolm chuckled as they turned to make their way back into the house, "It might be good to get out of here for a bit. I can show you our world famous nightlife. I know you're technically not supposed to leave Brahms, but I won't tell if you won't." he smiled hopefully

Heather hesitated, "Look Malcolm, you're sweet, but I just got out of…a thing."

"No," Malcolm denied, "this is not a thing. No, I assure you of that. This is a professional courtesy seeing as were employed by the same people. It's a duty is what it is. I will take no pleasure in it whatsoever, I promise."

Heather smiled and laughed at his goofiness as they re-entered the kitchen, "Alright, I supposed one night out won't kill me. It would be nice to get out of this house."

Malcolm grinned, "That's the spirit. Great so I'll pick you up tonight. Around seven, alright?"

Heather nodded, "Sounds great."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather was walking around her room, trying to figure out what she wanted to wear, The Brahms doll sitting on her bed watching her.

"I'm sorry, Brahmsy." Heather started talking to the doll and she sorted through her clothes, "I know I'm not supposed to leave you, but I desperately need some human interaction."

The doll, of course, didn't reply, he simply sat there and continued to watch her parade around the room in her shirt and panties.

Heather sighed in relief, "Thanks for understanding Brahms, now don't worry we'll make sure you're put to bed before I leave for the night, and I'll only be gone a couple of hours at the most."

She laid out two dresses on the bed, a navy blue one, and a light pink one, "Which dress do you think I should wear?"

No response

"I know, you're probably wondering why I'm so worried about what I'm going to wear when this isn't even a date." She continued talking to the doll, "The truth is I'm a bit nervous about this… thing. I'm kinda outta practice."

Heather moved to sit on the bed beside the doll, "I haven't been out with someone in a long time, I don't really have any friends, and my last relationship didn't end very well."

She sighed, "I'm even sure I really want to go on this outing. I don't want Malcolm getting the wrong idea about this. I like him, sure, but I'm not interested in him romantically."

Heather stood back up from the bed, "Well I'm done with my pity party. You are an excellent listener Mr. Brahms, but now it's time for you to go to bed. " She giggled as she picked the doll up and brought him into his room.

She changed him into his pajamas, read him a chapter from their book, said his prayers, then gave him his goodnight kiss and left.

Heather went back to her room and moved to go into the bathroom to take a shower only to stop short at seeing not two dresses laying on the bed but one, the pink one. That was odd, she didn't remember picking a dress out or putting her blue one away. But she must have done it. Who else could have?

Heather grabbed her dress and cell phone and took them into the bathroom with her, not bothering to shut the door. Who was going to see her? No one. She started playing some music then jumped in the shower.

She was washing up as she sang along, "Cause when I'm with him, I am thinking of you…" she sang under her breath, "What you would do if you were the one who was spending the night." She took a breath and belted out, "Oh I wish that I was looking into your eyes!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather got out of the shower and began drying off, she did her make up first then started running her fingers through her hair, trying to help it dry quicker; and that was when she noticed it, her dress was gone.

Heather looked around the bathroom in confusion, but didn't see the dress anywhere. She knew for sure that she had brought it in the bathroom with her, but maybe she had left it in the bedroom.

Heather wrapped the towel around her body and walked into her room, but didn't see the dress anywhere in there either. What she did see was all of her drawers were opened but there were no clothes anywhere to be seen, even her underwear was gone.

"My clothes…" Heather breathed out, wide eyed and frightened.

She slowly backed out of the room and turned to go down the hallway, but stopped at the sight of the attic stairs having been pulled down.

"Melcolm?" she called out nervously, "Malcolm, if this is you please come out here!" But there was no answer to her call, just the sound of wood creaking.

Heather gulped uneasily, "Is someone up there?" Still no reply

She shook her head, "I'm not going up there…no I'm not going to go up there." She stood there for a minute before letting out a groan and grabbing the attic door puller (Idk what it's called) and started making her way towards the stairs.

"You are such an idiot, Heather," she reprimanded as she climbed the stairs, "You've seen enough horror movies to know that the hot, naked girl should never go into the creepy attic, but here you are doing it anyway."

Her head was just peaking into the attic when she called out, "Hello?" she climbed the rest of the way up, "Is anyone here?"

She stepped off the stairs and further into the room and began looking around, but jumped when she heard a rattling noise. She turned back around only to see the attic stairs slamming up and closed behind her.

Heather felt a sob escape her throat and she knelt down and began pushing and banging against the door. She stopped when she heard a door shut and what she though was the sound of footsteps further into the attic.

She looked around but didn't see anyone there, and then she heard the sound of a car pulling up outside, "Malcolm." She breathed in relief and rushed over to small window.

Looking down she could see Malcolm getting out of hid car and walking to the front door, "Malcolm!" she yelled, "Up here!" but he couldn't hear her, "Malcolm!"

Heather started banging on the window in desperation, "No! Malcolm! Please!"

But he still couldn't hear her. Heather grabbed her pole and started banging on the window but it wouldn't budge.

"Oh my God, up here!" she cried out as she saw him starting to walk away, "Malcolm!" Heather moved back to trying to pry the window open but it just wasn't working, and she ended up breaking her pole in two trying.

She looked back down and saw Malcolm getting into his car, "No! Malcolm! Malcolm! Please don't leave me!" she cried as she collapsed to her knees.

Heather sat there and cried for a minute, but finally got up and started trying to maneuver her way back to the attic door. She turned a corner only to see what looked like a man standing in her way.

Heather gasped in shock and jumped back, only to stumble and fall backwards hitting her head and knocking her unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5: A Polite Burglar on our hands

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4819fbd2ace0a588cc707e8e2922d9b0"By the time Heather finally woke up, it was morning and there was sunlight streaming in through the attic windows. She sat up and rubbed the back of her sore head with a groan as she looked up to see that what had frightened her the night before was just a mannequin wearing a suite./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="27d871d3b42e7028ba55b24aaa080352"She scoffed at her own stupidity and stood up looking around at some of the things in the attic that the Heelshires had collected over the years. While searching, she found an old picture album. Heather sat down, picking the book up and began leafing through it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="66885b893126b536a28f3708961fb638"Inside the album Heather found several pictures of a little boy, Brahms. She smiled at the sight; he was an adorable baby and a very cute little boy. Heather couldn't help but think that he would have made an attractive man, had he had the chance to grow up./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2c3cdc9c42ac7669a79667f639d84e13"She finally came to the end of the album, finding a picture of the painting that was hanging up as well as another picture hiding behind it. She pulled them out and looked at both of them./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="eb5efa452f524fcdfe9b4c908d05ffdf"Then she noticed that the smile he had in the painting had been painted on, it was fake. She also noticed that he didn't really smile in any of his pictures./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8d0d2ce9c8f665e9cac63d6c4323627a"There was no expression at all really; he just had a blank look on his face./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1c8feda5f60274a40247c24fbed80401"Heather jumped in fright at the sound of the attic stairs finally releasing, then she let out a sigh of relief./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d93b31c0cd19a340ecdd817f145160f3"She climbed down, still holding onto the photo album, and looked around the hallway in confusion then turned to look into her room. All her clothes were back, though they were thrown around the room haphazardly, as though they were put back in a hurry./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="91c24e449edfad8900ca100e7bcc1597"She huffed and grabbed some clothes to put on, slipping the album into one of her drawers as she went, and changed quickly before calling Malcolm to ask him to come over./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5cd674bee870ef3272e87daacc2def53"While waiting she went to Brahms' room to wake him up. She dressed him quickly and headed out of the room to go fix some breakfast./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d92f599f8297746cd45debe75ee1324c""Oh Brahms, I'm sorry we're getting such a late start to the day," Heather started as she carried the doll down the stairs, "but you would not believe the night I had."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6b12c38c6140c12a9208663bc3e653eb"She told the doll all about her night in the attic as she cooked breakfast and sat down to eat, "I will say this though, you were a very adorable baby." She teased the doll./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c16aeb72930a51abc9e4b9ef91f49330"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="075f743fb884b507b45cf01be8b1e468"Malcolm finally arrived and she sat Brahms down in the study putting some music on for him, before leading Malcolm to the attic door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b841e62aae887e762a2ca659f1aec6fd""You spent the whole night up there?" He asked, surprised./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="77e59188543a26b71a8edb20e44b35aa"Heather sighed, "I know what you're going to say, that it was stupid of me to go up there in the first place."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="395cae1d6c9d91e051892089308026eb"Malcolm nodded distractedly as he looked up into the attic, "I bet no one's been up there for years. What on earth comp..." he was cut off as he reached out. But as soon has his hand touched the stairs they immediately retracted back into the ceiling./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8ff003370e16d12b49f886c058815091""Whoa," Malcolm breathed as they both jumped back in shock, "well, that's one mystery solved."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6e163e5fbd27d27b36ed77540214f6f1"Heather chuckled in reply and let out a relieved sigh./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7a39bff6b7080b3485886a4dd96dadab""I'll go ahead and check the rest of the house just to be sure." He reassured her with a kind smile./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f868532ef21ca93374a0a2382cc984ee""Thank you Malcolm." She replied gratefully/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2a9f3467a4711b9f7e7736255c6d613b"Malcolm shrugged, "Don't mention it."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="80dbe34621d862a9862306f8deef9312"Heather went down to the study to sit with the doll while Malcolm checked over the house. She turned off the music and started reading a bit, getting through two chapters before Malcolm joined her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3ff7a8f5925468c3f1b3c3207d12cb35""So Heather," he said entering the room, "I've checked every nook and cranny of this very lovely, very weird and large house. All the windows are sealed tight, and the house is clear."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d0f2be1259e0653e25717af032823bd3"Heather frowned in confusion and stood up, "There was someone here with me last night; I know it. All my clothes disappeared only for them to suddenly re-appear this morning."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3457b03bfbf84ce39b89f90a433fec1d""You know" Malcolm began softly, "I used to sleepwalk when I was a boy..."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="54654ada72cab4ba7e58698d9f3385b1"She frowned and shook her head, "I wasn't sleepwalking; I was getting ready to leave."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f40a90133dab64cabff0c4edcecc47bc""Well," He shrugged, "I don't have anything better to do today. I could stick around for a bit, you know, make sure we don't have some very polite burglar on our hands coming in, taking nothing, and then locking up after himself before he leaves."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b1dbef30abf5f4d8aa0de52d1ba1d404"Heather laughed at the absurdity of it all, "Are you sure it wouldn't be too much trouble?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6c58e963e6b78c7a618a56055767767b"Malcolm shook his head, "It's no problem, and I'm here anyway, aren't I?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f8a5a404e9611032771e8e3505a2f726"She sighed in relief and gave a smile, "Okay, thanks."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d1c98b3736147bbbd4a47fc7fa25318f"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="242c9a91f68be05862edd629e0103865"Heather had fixed the both of them lunch, and put the leftovers away when they were finished. She then went to go check the traps, only to find nothing there, as usual, before suggesting they play a game of pool./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d07be89720eb1a9e03816d02d085450c"If Malcolm thought it was odd that she carried the doll around with her, he didn't mention it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e613a5e36c44410fa827eb7618b832a6"They had moved into the billiard room and were in the middle of a game, and Heather was winning. The Brahms doll was off to the side sitting in one of the chairs./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b95919550586d57179ea5a4812582821""You've played this before." Malcolm accused playfully as Heather shot another ball into a pocket./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f5f198f875c01ce017dde6fed006cfd4"Heather chuckled, "My father had a pool table, spent most of my childhood playing this game." She looked up at him as she moved to take another shot, and smirked, "Let me know when you're ready to play for money."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="72ea6047b86fc1c3a80a0ea680b43fcd"He shook his head, "Oh, no thanks." Heather laughed at him and took her shot, missing. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="16f11bea4dc303449fd861a5b5b62d74"She sighed as she watched him line up the shot, "So tell me about Brahms."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="733ec1c9f6def59cba3fbf3189497640"Malcolm shrugged innocently, "I told you everything I know."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7bfdf51fc2b40486768365a64bb6eb3e"Heather studied him carefully, "Wow, you have the worst poker face I've ever seen."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3d55290352bea6f2e19df8f28bf432d6"He laughed nervously, "All right, you caught me. What do you want to know?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="65ae7966e1410b68e57cfea7219c0d3b"She looked over at the doll and smiled softly, "What was he like?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="81a60a29d2834b167b9d3788a5093173"Malcolm sat down and sighed, "You need to know that there are two types of talk in town. There's polite talk and pub talk. You know? And the truth is somewhere in between."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3402c87bda99482c87c215d698a10682"Heather nodded, Okay, so what's the polite talk?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="84de900285f37a60c7a2e0df887d1a45"He shrugged, "That he was a lovely lad and it's a tragedy that he was taken at such a young age."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1e5af6ce20bdf0dbcfd9496299e5002a""And the pub talk?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="42049e385b488f9434a62bc8ba28196c""That he wasn't such a lovely lad. That he was down right strange, in fact."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="91057ad8c0f42a54384b9ecfc421fbc4""Whats the truth?" Heather asked curiously as she moved to sit next to Malcolm./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0bfedd7874f2a66e0cdea57859a3934d"He looked over at her solemnly, "You know, one day I came out here for a delivery. I didn't know it at the time, but it was Brahms birthday, or would have been, and Mrs. Heelshire she was in the sitting room, opening presents with the doll. And Mr. Heelshire..."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="357df4631bac65e66d87d0560b5a4ee9"He paused and took a breath, looking around the room sadly, "...he was in here. Off his-pickle, drunk and mumbling to himself, that he couldn't do it anymore.I told him I'd come back another time, but he wanted me to come in. You know, have a drink with him. So I did. We get a couple of drinks in, chatting about the weather and so on and finally I get the courage to ask him that exact question. What was Brahms, the real Brahms like?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1e48997b77cbcd514f8a8911f066d1dc"Heather looked up curiously, "What did he say?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ed2c70ca4666d1ac7d862413004cb6b8"Malcolm smiled sorrowfully, "He just looks at me with this, you know, this heart broken look, made me sorry I even asked. He said one word. "Odd", he says. Just odd. And that was it." he stood to him feet to take his shot, "Which I suppose is all the answer we're ever going to get."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6599676edc46380ce8ca0c00282431bd"He took the shot and missed, "Your shot."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="23d2eb7a881aeeee614d51c37f27ee78"Heather nodded and stood to her feet to line it up, and shot the ball in the pocket, "Thank you for staying with me today."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="07b4018ae52186fa51edbcc53b40105b""No problem at all," he waived her off, "Are you sure you're gonna be okay here on your own?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="11204ee6af45e60eeae8a76f7e7dde26"Heather nodded, "Yeah, I'll be okay. I've got Brahms here to protect me." She motioned over to the doll and the two of them laughed at her joke./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a636c988942010bd9e92471a0261a11f"Malcolm left not too long after that and Heather fixed herself a quick dinner before getting up and taking the doll to bed. She changed him into his pajamas and read a chapter in the book, and then she said his prayers before telling him goodnight./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cd52d69ce13e1ead7bdc4989e4e02130"It wasn't until she had made it back to her room that she realized she forgot the goodnight kiss, but Heather shrugged it off and got herself ready for bed. Missing one night wouldn't hurt anything./p 


	6. Chapter 6: Book Read and Returned

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="95dd2daf3127c2ecd59f68d13ec08774"Heather woke up the next morning and got dressed quickly before making her way down the hall to Brahms' room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bfc71dc7ead8e4fa05092e36c4114359"After the first few nights there she had begun to notice the eerie feeling the manor put off. It felt almost as though someone was watching her every move./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e970c4fd8f673662e9412fe49d6b88e5"Heather quickly shook the thought from her mind as she reached Brahms' room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0e16ae74d2c48541d47608952bbcbb61"Good morning Brahms, I..." Heather gasped as she opened the door and found Brahms not lying down like she had left him the night before, but sitting up on the bed staring out the window./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="56c76007cff162988b7cc303942062e4"Heather hesitantly moved closer to the doll and noticed the list of rules sitting beside him, with his little glass hand next to the last rule:/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="95130b56b9d9c2d2184d1d28c3cb19ef"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"10. Kiss Goodnight/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fa43208d8192cce81a90ba6d869677df"Heather let out a shaky breath and began backing up out of the room, when suddenly Brahms head swiveled in her direction./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6f2e1f40bc523841fedc7bcf00c9fd84"Heather lunged up from bed with a gasp, wide awake now. She placed a hand over her pounding heart, "God." She breathed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6981dea7bf0af71bda7e752f46be4c28"Her head snapped up as she began to hear what sounded like a child giggling right outside her room. Heather looked on in confusion as she slipped out of bed and walked closer to the door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather woke up the next morning and got dressed quickly before making her way down the hall to Brahms' room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"After the first few nights there she had begun to notice the eerie feeling the manor put off. It felt almost as though someone was watching her every move./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather quickly shook the thought from her mind as she reached Brahms' room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Good morning Brahms, I..." Heather gasped as she opened the door and found Brahms not lying down like she had left him the night before, but sitting up on the bed staring out the window./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather hesitantly moved closer to the doll and noticed the list of rules sitting beside him, with his little glass hand next to the last rule:/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"10. Kiss Goodnight/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather let out a shaky breath and began backing up out of the room, when suddenly Brahms head swiveled in her direction./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather lunged up from bed with a gasp, wide awake now. She placed a hand over her pounding heart, "God." She breathed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Her head snapped up as she began to hear what sounded like a child giggling right outside her room. Heather looked on in confusion as she slipped out of bed and walked closer to the door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She didn't need to move closer to see that, also just like in the dream, his little porcelain hand was pointing to the last rule. Her eyes moved back and forth between the doll and the list sitting on the bed as she began backing out of the room slowly before taking off down the hall and running into her room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She quickly slammed the door closed behind her and locked it; then she ran for the phone and picked the receiver up to call Malcolm, throwing the book onto the bed. But when she held the phone to her ear, there was not dial tone... the phone was dead./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""No," Heather sobbed, "Please, no." she continued to try and get a tone out of the phone, but there was no change. She let out another sob and slammed the phone down./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather started breathing rapidly and pacing around the room, when the phone suddenly started ringing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She raced to grab it, hoping it would be Malcolm, "Hello?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"But there was nothing but static, "Hello?" she asked again, trying to control her tears./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"It took a moment; then she heard, "Heather." It was a little boy./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather couldn't hold back the sob that worked its way out, "Wh...who is this?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Please come out, come and play with me pretty Heather." Heather just cried harder./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Heather." The little boy's voice spoke again, pleadingly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Please," Heather wailed, "Who is this?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Why didn't you give me a kiss goodnight? You know its part of the rules."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather whimpered, "I'm sorry." But then the line went dead and she looked down at the phone fearfully./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She set the phone down and backed into a corner as she saw the shadow of someone standing in front if her door. They knocked lightly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""What do you want?" she called out, weeping./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"There was no answer, but the knocking just continued. Heather slid down against the wall and cried. Finally the knocking stopped and whoever it was started walking away humming Johannes Brahms' lullaby./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She heard him continue to hum as he walked further down the hallway, and after a few minutes he came back and something was slid in front of her door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""I promise I'll be good, Heather... It's your favorite, please come out."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather sat there for a minute, her tears having subsided, before getting up and hesitantly walking closer to the door. She paused a moment, "God Heather, your going to get yourself killed," she muttered as she unlocked the door and peaked out./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"When she didn't see anyone there she opened it wider and looked down. Sitting in front of her door was a tray with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sitting on it and a glass of milk./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She looked across the hall to Brahms' room, he was still sitting in the same position he originally was with the list beside him, though he wasn't pointing at the list anymore, his hands were now folded together in his lap./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather picked the tray up and laughed, "Oh my God." She carried the try into her room, still laughing and sat it down./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She walked out of her room and into Brahms' and knelt in front of the doll, "I'm sorry I forgot the kiss goodnight. I promise to do better from now on."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She sat there for a moment just silently staring at the doll until the phone rang and she had to stand up go answer it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Hello?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Heather? It's Malcolm."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She sighed in relief, "Malcolm, hey. You would not believe the morning I've had."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""What happened?" He asked/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""You know, when I first got here, Mrs. Heelshire said Brahms took my book. She said that he was playful, but I just thought she was joking." She laughed breathlessly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Heather, are you okay? What about your book?" he sounded worried, "Do we need to replace your book?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She shook her head, "No, no it's not about my book."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Uh, Heather, I'm not sure I understand, but I was calling to see if maybe you'd lik..."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""I have to go." Heather interrupted before he could ask her out again, and hung up the phone without waiting for a reply./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She walked back into Brahms' room and grabbed him some clothes for the day, "Let's get this day started." She dressed him and brought him into her room, setting him on the bed while she moved to the bathroom to get changed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Once she was finished she grabbed the doll took him into the kitchen, where she ate the sandwich he made her. After she had finished eating she took Brahms into the study for a bit of reading./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""...And after she had lain counting sheep and/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Turning over and over she heard Lucy give a long sigh and turn over/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Just beside her in the darkness./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"'Can't you get to sleep either?' said Susan."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather paused in her reading at the sound of the phone ringing, she new it was Malcolm calling, and Heather didn't really feel like talking to him at the moment./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She turned to the Brahms' doll, "How about we just ignore that. Now where was I? Oh I see, 'No,' said Lucy. 'I thought you were asleep. I say, Susan!'/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"'What?'/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"'I've a most Horrible feeling — as if something were hanging over us.'/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"'Have you? Because, as a matter of fact, so have I.'"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"She stopped reading around lunch time to go fix herself and Brahms something to eat. Then she took Brahms with her to check the traps, she was starting to think the traps didn't work at all./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Afterwards she took him into the study and put on some music while she cleaned up the house a bit and took care of the laundry./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Once she was finished, she took Brahms into the kitchen with her to make dinner, setting the leftovers in the fridge and cleaning up the mess./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Heather then took Brahms up to bed, completing their nightly routine and making sure to deliver his goodnight kiss to him, and closed his door behind her as she made her way to bed herself./p 


	7. Chapter 7: Playing Hide-And- Seek

The next day when Heather was taking Brahms into the study for reading time, she found some sheet music waiting for her in her usual seat.

"Brahms' lullaby?" she muttered inquisitively and looked over at the doll, "You want me to play this for you, Brahmsy?"

As per usual, the doll didn't reply, but Heather got the message. She moved over to the piano and sat the Brahms doll down beside her as she began to play.

She stopped playing and looked down at the doll, "How did I do? Hmm? Good? Want me to teach you. Brahmsy?" she chuckled and turned back to continue playing.

"I didn't know you could play." Heather jumped in shock and turned to look in the doorway where Malcolm stood holding the mail.

She placed a hand over her heart, "Malcolm." She scolded.

He chuckled, "Sorry, I tried knocking, but I guess you didn't hear."

"No I didn't, sorry." She turned to pick the doll up and stood to face Malcolm, "What are you doing here?"

He walked further into the room, "You weren't picking up your phone. I was worried, so I though I'd make the delivery a little early this week." He paused, "I can come back if you..."

Heather shook her head and smiled as she held the doll closely to her, "No that's okay, I just wasn't expecting you."

Malcolm nodded in understanding, "Right, oh, I grabbed the mail on the way in."

"Thanks," she pointed to a basket behind him, "You can put it in there, and follow me to the kitchen. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, thanks." He followed her into the kitchen and began putting away the groceries while she made lunch.

"So how are you and Brahms getting on? Have there been anymore polite burglars loitering about?" He joked.

Heather shook her head and laughed, "We're getting on fine; no one's been in the house except Brahms and me."

"That's good to hear," he smiled over at her, "So, I was thinking I might take you up on that night-on-the-town. Dinner. Drinks. Dancing. I'll have you know I'm a legend in these parts for my dance moves."

Heather grinned back as she put the finishing touches on lunch, "I don't remember making such an offer."

Malcolm gave her a look of faux confusion, "You didn't? Are you sure? Because I distinctly remember you saying you were going to show me the world famous nightlife in these parts."

Heather chuckled as she handed him his plate, "Oh I said that, did I?"

Malcolm nodded but his mouth was full of food so I didn't verbally respond, and Heather let out another laugh at the sight of his cheeks being puffed out like a chipmunks.

She looked over at Brahms and gave a small smile, "The Heelshires are paying me an awful lot of money to watch Brahms, and they only gave me a few rules. One of them was not to leave Brahms alone. I'm sorry, but you're welcome to hang out here."

Malcolm shook his head, "No that's alright I've got other deliveries I've got to make. I do think that's very kind of you to respect the Heelshires that way. I better be off."

He picked up his jacket and crate and to the door, "Bye Heather."

She looked up from her food and smiled, "See you later Malcolm."

Once the door was shut Heather turned to look at the doll, "Brahms?" she questioned hopefully, "Can you hear me?" she placed the plate of food in front of it, "Please, reach out for your food." She pleaded.

After waiting a minute and nothing happened, Heather sat back in her seat, "God, I'm going crazy." She sniffled, "If there is a spirit in this house, please give me a sign." Still nothing happened.

Heather sighed and stood up and grabbed the un-eaten food, going to place it in the freezer. When she turned back around, the Brahms doll was gone.

Heather stared in shock and she raced forward towards his empty seat, and founding him sitting in the doorway instead, "Brahms." She sighed in shock.

She walked over to the doll and lifted him into her arms, "You want to play hide-and-seek?"

There was no reply, she chuckled, "Okay, I guess lessons can be postponed for today. Let's play."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a couple of hours later and the two had taken a break from hide-and-seek. Heather put Brahms to bed for a nap and she was doing some reading of her own, when there was a knock on the door.

Heather looked up in confusion, "Who could that possibly be?"

She got up and walked out the study and into the front parlor. She opened the door and found Malcolm standing on the other side.

"Malcolm," she said, "What you are you doing back here?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Well you were acting kind of off earlier and I wanted to make sure you were alright, plus I just finished my deliveries for the day I thought I might take you up on your earlier offer."

Heather smiled and nodded, "Sure come on in, I was actually going to call you tomorrow anyway. I need someone else to see this, so I know I'm not crazy."

She led him up the stairs to Brahms' room, "To see what?"

She turned back around, "Brahms is alive." She said as she began rushing back up the stairs. Malcolm stood there in shock, "Brahms is alive?" then he started chasing her up the stairs and all the way into Brahms room.

Once they reached the room they found Brahms sitting in the rocking chair and a chalk outline on the floor.

"I know you probably think I'm crazy. Honestly, I kind of think the same thing right now. That's why I need you to see this too." Heather started wiping away the chalk, "I just have to clean this off so you know that I'm not cheating."

Malcolm looked at her a little worried, "Don't worry, I don't think you're cheating. No, I think you've gone completely mental."

Heather laughed, "Yeah me too, but we have to use the chalk." She said as she sat the Brahms doll on the floor and began drawing another outline, "Because sometimes he doesn't move that much and it's hard to tell. We've been playing hide-and-seek all day and I was very scientific in the beginning, because I want to make sure that there was no doubt what was happening."

Heather stood up and pulled Malcolm out of the room, "Okay. Here we go. This is something. It's...absolutely extraordinary."

"Okay." Malcolm muttered as he stared at her.

She shut the door behind them and led Malcolm into her bedroom, shutting that door as well, "I couldn't figure out what was going on before. All these strange things kept happening to me, but it was just little things, like the footsteps running down the hall, my necklace, my shoes, my clothes kept disappearing."

She knocked on the wall. "Then I remembered what Mr. Heelshire said, that Brahms is shy and timid. I figured out that he doesn't want people to see him. So, if you go out of the room and you leave him alone... well you'll see." She smiled up at Malcolm and turned to leave the room.

Malcolm stopped her, "Okay, so what is this is? Is it like some kind of a magic trick?You don't really think he's alive, do you?" Heather frowned and shook her head, "It's not a trick, come on." And with that they headed back down the hallway to Brahms' room.

"Okay, Brahms! Here we come!" Heather called out before opening the door, only to see that the doll hadn't moved a single bit.

Malcolm moved closer to her, "Okay. It's okay. I think maybe we should sit down for a bit. Honestly, I think maybe you're a bit tired." He tried to comfort her.

Heather just stared at the doll imploringly, "Please, Brahms. I need him to see this, okay? So I know I'm not crazy. I know this is hard for you to do but please do it for me? I need this or I have to go. They'll make me leave, and I couldn't stay here with you any more."

Malcolm bent down and rubbed her back, "Heather, come on. Let's go downstairs and I'll make you and nice cup of tea."

Heather looked up at him, "Just give him one more chance, okay?" she begged, "If he doesn't move, if nothing happens; then I've absolutely lost my mind. Please, just one more time."

Malcolm stood up and sighed, "Okay."

He followed her back down the hall and into her room. She shut the door and knocked on the wall again; then they heard the floorboards creak and the sound of footsteps running while Brahms giggled. Heather grinned at Malcolm and the two took off towards Brahms room.

"Dear God." Malcolm muttered as he followed her. The opened the door only to find Brahms gone. Heather laughed joyfully.

Malcolm looked up at her and asked, "Where is he gone to?"

Heather grinned at him, "I don't know. He hides somewhere different every time." She reached up and wrapped her arms around Malcolm, hugging him tightly.

"He is just gone. He is just gone." Malcolm laughed with her, but then suddenly jerked away, "Oh my God."

Heather turned around to see what his startled him,and laughed, "Oh, he hasn't hidden there before." She said as she picked the doll up from behind the door.


	8. Chapter 8: Ties

After they calmed down from the excitement, Heather left to place Brahms in the study; she turned on some music for him, she and Malcolm exited the house to take a stroll around the garden.

"It's bloody incredible, isn't it?" Malcolm exclaimed as they walked around the gazebo, "We don't really even know what were dealing with. I mean, is it a ghost? Is it some sort of trapped spirit. Or a..."

Heather cut him off with a smile, "It's a boy. He's just a little boy, who died way too young."

He sighed, "Yeah. Yeah, he is." Then he smiled at her, "Well, he was lucky you came along."

Heather shook her head and chuckled, "I don't think it was luck."

"It wasn't?"

"No, I think I was brought here for a reason."

"Okay?" He was confused.

Heather sighed, "I was an only child and I lost my parents in a car accident when I was thirteen. I've been on my own ever since. I got involved with the wrong type of crowd for a while and I met this guy, Blake. He was not a good guy at all."

She chuckled, "Everyone I knew begged me to just leave him and I was going to," They moved over to a bench and sat down, "until I found out I was pregnant. He swore up and down that he was going to change for us, that he was sorry. Stupid me, I believed him, and I stayed."

She looked up sadly at Malcolm, "Then one day he came home drunk off his ass and he...went off on me again. Our neighbors heard my screams and called the ambulance, they took me to the hospital, but I already knew before I even got there that I had lost the baby."

Heather tried to swallow back the tears; this was the first time she had talked about what happened to anyone, well besides the doll, "What I am trying to say is that, I know what it feels like to lose a child. Just like the Heelshires did and I feel like that kinda ties me to them, to Brahms, and to this place." She paused and looked over, "Does it make any sense to you?"

Malcolm placed a comforting arm around her and gave her a half smile and a nod, "Yeah. Yeah, it does. But for whatever reason, I'm glad you ended up here. And I know Brahms is too."

Heather smiled, "I'm happy too, and I'm glad I've got you as a friend."

Malcolm's face dropped a little at that but he managed to pick it back up before she noticed, "Yeah, same here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather had left Malcolm in the kitchen while she went to put Brahms to bed. She had just finished saying his prayers with him and was now tucking him in, "Thank you for today Brahms. You were such a good boy for me." She stared down at his porcelain face and gave a smile, "I'm happy that I get to be here with you. Goodnight sweetie." She bent down and gave him a kiss before standing and turning out the light and shutting the door.

She then left to join Malcolm in the kitchen where they started washing up from dinner.

"Thank you for actually listening to me today, and not just rushing me off to the nut house." Heather said looking up at Malcolm.

He chuckled, "Oh, trust me it was a close call, but I'm glad I stayed and listened."

She grinned, "Me too." They finished up with the dishes and Malcolm turned to face Heather moving closer to her, "Listen Heather," He started reaching out for her hand, "I..."

He was cut by the vinyl player being turned on and cranked up on high. They looked up at each other in shock and rushing into the study to find Brahms sitting down there in complete darkness as the music played loudly.

Heather moved over to Brahms while Malcolm turned the music off, "What the hell is going on?" Malcolm asked, frustrated.

Heather sighed and looked down at the doll, "Why do you have that so loud? And what are you doing out of bed?"

She turned to look over at Malcolm, "Let me just put him back to bed and I'll be right back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather came back down to the kitchen after getting Brahms back in bed, and fixed her and Malcolm a cup of coffee.

"Given everything that's happened," Malcolm started as he joined her at the table, "maybe it would be wise if you stayed in town tonight."

Heather looked up at him in confusion, "What? Why?"

He sighed, "Heather, what just happened, the music playing. That was..."

She rolled her eyes, "It was a tantrum, Malcolm; children have tantrums, even little ghost children."

"Look," He sated patiently, "I understand this means something to you, alright? But let's take a step back for a second, and get some perspective here."

Heather shook her head, "No, I know exactly what is going on here. This little boy needs me, and I'm not going anywhere." She sighed, "The Heelshires brought me here to look after their son, and I promised that I would take care of him like he was my own."

"Under the circumstances, I think they'll understand, Heather."

"No, Brahms needs me, and I'm not just going to abandon him because of one tantrum."

"Oh God," Malcolm muttered, "I should have told you this before, but I didn't want to scare you."

Heather looked up confused, "Told me what?"

"A little girl from town used to come out here, once a week to play with Brahms. Emily Cribbs, and on his birthday she comes out here but never makes it home..." Malcolm took a breath, "They finally found her body in the woods; her skull has been crushed. The police called the Heelshires to let them know that Brahms would need to be questioned, but by the time they arrived, the place was already up in flames."

"The fire that killed Brahms." Heather whispered.

Malcolm nodded, "The Heelshires made it out but Brahms was burned alive up there."

Heather looked over at him, "Did they ever find her killer?"

He shook his head, "No, they never did." He frowned, "What I'm saying is, if you're right, if this thing is some kind of spirit or ghost or... okay, I don't even know. I'm not completely sure that it is the good kind."

Heather looked at him worriedly, "But you said that it was all just pub talk."

"Yeah, but what if it isn't?" Malcolm urged

Heather shook her head as she stood up, "No, no one even knows for sure that he did kill that little girl. Besides I know he wouldn't hurt me."

He sighed, "It's just not safe in this house, okay?"

Heather took their two mugs to the sink; then turn to face Malcolm, "No, I'm not leaving him."

Malcolm exhales, exhausted, "Okay."

After Malcolm had left, Heather went upstairs to go to bed, but decided to check on Brahms one more time first. When she opened his door he was sitting up in bed watching out the window.

"Brahms," she sighed, "What are you still doing up?" Heather laid him back down and covered him up, "Now you go straight to sleep, alright?" She stared down at the doll, "You'd never hurt me, would you Brahms? No, you're a good boy."

She leaned down and gave him one more kiss, "Good night Brahms."

She closed the door behind her and went to her room; she closed the door and pulled out the photo album she had taken from the attic. Opening it up, Heather began to leaf through it again until she found a picture of Brahms standing behind a pretty little blonde girl.

Heather pulled the photo out and turned it over reading the back, "Emily Cribbs." She whispered sadly. She slipped the photo back in place and put it back in her drawer, closing it.


	9. Chapter 9: Blake

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="30567fb7bf8f0b91444d0e66a94fdaf7"The next morning Heather awoke and got dressed before making her way to Brahms' bedroom to get him ready for the day, "Good morning Brahms," she woke him up and began getting him dressed. Once he was ready Heather picked the doll up and walked down into the kitchen, and made then some breakfast, eating hers then wrapping the leftovers up and putting them in the fridge./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3ff0ac2dd1cb0505c9146047514084c6"As soon as that was done, she took Brahms into the study and they read together until it was nearly time for lunch. Heather closed the book and turned to face the doll, "Say I've got an interesting idea; what do you say we hold off on our chores till a little bit later, that way after lunch we can spend the rest of the day finishing up our book. Hmm, how does that sound?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="13f2f4912cf1936c30fe23c2588ece15"She took his silence as agreement and moved into the kitchen to prepare lunch for the two. Once they were done Heather moved them back into the study and turned on some light music as she continued to read./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d1188be5314a128115a89291c7d392ea"She finally finished the book a little bit before dinner time, "Oh that was a good story, wasn't it Brahmsy? How about we start the next one tomorrow?" She stood up and grabbed the doll, "But now it's time we get our work done, let's go check those pesky traps then I'll start making us dinner."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cdbbb189f806401f88b6fc32771550f2"She moved back into the kitchen and slipped on their jackets before exiting through the back door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="82e0228aa7ba5d5b08cb36f29cd6d637"Heather went around the house and checked all the rat traps, but once again she didn't find a single rat, "You know Brahms," Heather started as she picked the doll back up from where it was sitting against the house, "I'm starting to think these traps don't really work, I haven't seen a single rat the entire time I've been here."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2976ba4f0b725b772c131ea12464bb6a"She turned and started walking back into the house, "Now that that's out of the way, how about some dinner?" I don't know about you, but I'm starving."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8066386302958dcdd89d81cc39dad93e"She walked back into the house and sat Brahms on the counter while she turned to wash her hands. Heather turned off the water and moved to start making dinner when she heard the sound of pool balls clattering together./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="30a140a9a1486abcce89ed9d02548a43"Heather smiled and looked at Brahms, "Who's that?" the she called out, "Malcolm?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="15d44b76d7c139bb4cdfa1489ce38a50"She picked the Brahms doll up and started making her way to the billiard room, "Malcolm I didn't think you were coming back till..." Heather froze in the doorway at the sight that greeted her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f71a9b86b3f8463d9dec2f7bae8cabcf""Blake." She whispered, clutching the doll to her tightly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9fc55443ce25cd6aee2141cf81a48cdb"He smirked at her, "Hey babe," he said as he bent down to take another shot, "Who's Malcolm?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="45114cdc1251b14d7d6462266b791623"Heather didn't reply, in stead she asked, "How'd you find me?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="32eaddb4837fb394003325936a279f61"He scoffed, "Well it wasn't easy, let me tell you that. I was just gonna write you a letter, but you know me. Writing isn't exactly my strong suite." He then pointed to Brahms in her arms, "Is this the little fellow? What's his name?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c546e8b84c4276f71ff5bab782d06dbb""Brahms." Heather tried to turn her body to shield Brahms' face but it didn't work./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7736a628d5ae68c2de304d116d8dd18c""Uh..." he started confused, "This is a joke, right? A real boy is just gonna come running out any second now."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="eb6f25088931b05c5b7186e5244a3959"Heather forced out a laugh, "There's no little boy; they're paying me to watch over a doll."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f78c72b6b81d07d6e9cc71dccf88482a"Blake sighed, laughing, as Heather moved to sit the doll down, "You're serious?" at her nod he went back to playing pool, "Well that makes things a hell of a lot simpler. The whole trip here I was trying to figure out what we'd do with the boy when we left, but now this shit." He chuckled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bf9aaad0a23d9288f5b957b8bb778fd3"Heather looked at Blake, confused, "What do you mean 'when we left'?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bedaf8373c1588afc18809c7fa01a1bc"Blake smirked, but didn't bother looking up, "I mean, it's time you come home, babe."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c16aeb72930a51abc9e4b9ef91f49330"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d06e2ad5b1ca2bcabd797c878b0be443"Heather had finally gotten around to making dinner and now they were sitting down at the dining room table eating, with Brahms sitting at the head and Heather and Blake on either side. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="08cf21c511d71299dd5b9b723323edb6""I've been working out at Fairville with Derek Runner's crew." Blake informed her at they ate, "They got a contract on a on a new hotel. So there's more enough work for everyone."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d97fd40452b3e54cdb1171b147af417a"Heather nodded as she pushed the food around her plate, she wasn't very hungry anymore, "That's great to hear, Blake, I'm glad it's all working out for you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="30764abd0384064997d28ce7ae304f3e"Blake sighed, "Listen, I understand why you left me, I really do."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="90128b68ee3762794173c61178f8bf26"Heather gave a shaky sigh as she tried to fight back the tears at the thought of her lost baby, and Blake started digging through his pocket only to pull out a plane ticket./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ee6ee05b5ccacee35fa38938dc6624b7""What's this?" she asked licking her lips nervously./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4530e5e8865aa5bdb6f82c93d1b3a0bc""Our flight leaves tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking you home babe."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f8b0a4d40d26963619984ffaf50793c5"Heather opened her mouth to respond but was cut off at the sound of the door opening, "Heather?" Malcolm called out./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7c8c0b57d52488b4703ec29c9d8750fa"He walked past the opening to the dinning room and stopped upon seeing an unknown man seated across from Heather, "Oh sorry, I let myself in."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="964c0cc649c2dee2ee5454fb462b8301"Heather forced out a smile as she stood from the table, "That's okay, this is..." she looked over at Blake, "This is Malcolm. He brings our groceries and things out here."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4ef2f1a35237a06ce1649e5031d0989f""Malcolm." Blake greeted as he stood up and shook his hand./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e13d4e83eecb6159723f40ac1837b056""Hey, nice to meet you." Malcolm replied as he shook the man's hand./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="633b31076597b56f8d0c28ca9cae92ec""Nice to meet you, man," Blake cleared his throat, "so what do you think about all this doll stuff?" Blake asked him releasing his hand./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b832a354f3682e8f070ecaf67e7451dc"Malcolm shrugged, "Uh, you know, I try not to get involved in other peoples business."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="77a6640e2e86f040e088efd714458490"Blake chuckled, "Smart man."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d35be782459ef7de6d19bd10cc6713be""I have that delivery if you'd like to go to the inventory list." Malcolm said looking over at Heather./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6a65e7c27e2a45dfa5d0eac01c9bdd28"She sent him a thankful smile, "Yeah, alright." Then to Blake, "I'll be right back."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d9c04252635c86086e0edc291e5d1bf1"The two of them walked out of the room and further down the hall out of hearing range, "What the hell is he doing here, Heather?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="351354d0981b265bda8e9e6e7cb4dd44"Heather shrugged frowning, "I don't know, He just showed up."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="babd016ae461be7ba24bff74d15e4509""Well, he has to leave. You can't actually let him stay here." He informed her softly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bdc32687066ddc739187197cb5eb64fa"Heather shrugged, helplessly, "I don't know how I'm going to get him to leave." She looked up a Malcolm, lip quivering, "He wants me to go home with him."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="43432f6a1c10758d14f23fb292979d6f"Malcolm rubbed her arm trying to comfort her, "Don't worry; we aren't going to let that happen. But he's got to go, what if he attacks you?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c07ccbdb006f110b49e374cda995579a"She shrugged again, "I don't know, I don't know what to do about this. He won't leave on his own..." The two saw Blake heading towards them from the corner of their eye, "Yep that sounds just fine."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6a7f70d8fb20d693a9c86cf46cbe0f08"Malcolm nodded and moved to leaving, shaking Blake's hand as he went, "Pleasure meeting you, Blake."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7ce82275dd096127b563f05059dcd435"Blake grinned sarcastically, "You too, Malcolm."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="707237992e7ca6716ea64d38b873d8a3""Yeah, you two have a good evening." He muttered as he walked out the door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d41defcb1cbfef8744ee655939c96ab3"Blake turned back to Heather, "Should I be worried?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1be99b5f289baa12003bcb54351c1541"She looked up at him, amused, "About Malcolm? No."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d1c98b3736147bbbd4a47fc7fa25318f"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0fb049208402892e81d85d2ea10fa206""Here you go." Heather brought a pillow and blanket to the billiard room where Blake was sitting with the Brahms doll./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="57656ef1fd22830c9835b6c328732fd9"Blake smirked at her as he took the blanket and pillow, "So I guess I am not sleeping in your bed tonight."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3aa618258bd5f6bc7407c54af26934e7"Heather froze for a second at his words but carried on as if she didn't hear him, "I can bring you more blankets if..."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e70169723fb5ccf7004191afc166e833""No, this is good." Blake interrupted her as he watched Heather make her way over to the doll, "What are you doing with that thing?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e5bcce20cf574d1adf2dcf35336a01ff""Well, I was gonna get him out of your way." She informed him as she picked the doll up, "I figured you wouldn't want him to sitting in here with you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8c5672449a32553951b148f14b1ebdd2"Blake nodded, "He is a creepy little guy."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="eaa1a97b23f98d5ae8b32242ab1371dc"Heather just hummed vaguely and she made to leave the room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e1b351f5bdea2f892047d84c794ff4e7"But Blake caught her arms and stopped her from going any farther, "Look Heather, I'm sorry for what happened. I just need to know, that you forgive me." He looked up at her, "I'd like to hear you say that."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2ac849e28c1b275c666f01ca2fd1a4ab"Heather started to tear up, "I can't." She answered hoarsely/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bf9db8ae3297d3b0939b1ca3c8ae7f07""Heather," he warned/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ecd15c2faf04c00a68f8e0deb077e5d4"Heather felt a tear roll down her cheek, "Blake, you took my baby from me." She whispered brokenly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="048dcc578617a676e177e0e2d73aee22"He sighed sadly before standing to his feet, and pushed her up against the pool table, "Fine. But I want you to realize something right now." He started as he gripped her arms, "You are not leaving me, Heather, and I will not let you go. No matter where you run off to. You understand?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e5831f4140bf6c2bb25baa070717a23d"Heather didn't respond, she was shaking and trying to fight off the tears. Blake grabbed her chin and lifted her face to look up at him, "hmm?" She nodded and whimpered./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="37fbbaea295db3ee93db4ca0fdc16d95"Blake bent down for a kiss, but Heather backed up before their lips could touch. He sighed, "Now, make sure you're packed and ready by morning, okay?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e0cb8c234fe3faa50aeb69d476ba26ca""Okay." She whispered back./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="549156b7adb8db0793106e2379005ef3""All right, now go on to bed," he placed a kiss on her forehead and released her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8601c8f2a041bd3ae8d479d5a94fce1c"Heather shot out of the room and up the stairs, and ran into Brahms' room, grabbing him some pajamas then darted off to her own bedroom shutting and locking the door behind her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3be0043c9ded0a7f58c447a7667df80d"She changed the two of them into their pajamas before lying down in bed cuddled up with Brahms, "Brahms I really don't want to leave you." She whispered, as tears ran down her face, "But I'm so scared of him. Please help me."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a93b53970e25e4f02d55e104450f5d3e"She cuddled the doll closer and continued to cry./p 


	10. Chapter 10: It's Brahms

Heather awoke a few hours later in bed alone with no sign of the Brahms doll, and someone was screaming her name, "Heather! Heather! Get in here!" She jumped out of bed and raced down the hall.

"Heather!" Blake yelled again.

"Blake, what happened?" She asked as soon as she got there.

Blake came over and grabbed her arm, "Get in here" he yanked her into the room, "Right now. What is this?"

Heather looked up and stared in shock. There on the wall, written in blood, 'Get Out', and in his bag of clothes sat four dead, bloody rats.

"Was this you?" Blake asked her again shaking her.

She shook her head, "I-I didn't do that."

"Don't play games with me!" he yelled at her, "How can this not be you? No one else is in this damn house!"

Heather shook her head only to stop short when she saw something in the corner of her eye. There sitting in one of the chairs, was the Brahms doll, "Brahms." She whispered.

"The doll?" He asked angrily as Heather moved to grab it, "The doll wrote this? Don't pull this shit on me, Heather." He followed her around the table.

Heather picked the doll up and held him closely as she turned back to face Blake, "Okay, fine, it wasn't you." He reached his hand out, "It was the doll. Give it to me."

She started backing up away from him, "Give me the doll."

Heather shook her head, "No."

"Give me the doll, Heather! Hand him over!" He shouted as she tried to run from him.

Blake grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back, but she struggled to get away from him.

"No, no, get off of me!" She cried as she slipped out of his grip and ran into the parlor, "It was me, okay! You were right, it was me. I did it. I want you to go!"

Blake shook his head, "No, It's too late. Now, give me the doll."

"No." She whimpered as he tried to snatch it from her, "Blake, Stop!"

"Heather!" Malcolm called out for her as he ran into the house.

"Now! I'm not joking around!" He grabbed the doll and knocked Heather to the ground in the process of pulling the doll from her grasp.

Heather hit her head against an end table on her way down and spit it open a bit.

"Hey, get your things and get out of here!" Malcolm told him as he entered the room.

"You know, everyone just seems to be in a big hurry for me to leave." Blake sneered as he looked between the two.

"You alright?" Malcolm asked her as she pulled herself up off the floor, but frowned when he noticed the cut on her head and the trickle of blood running down the side of her face.

Heather nodded shakily, "Yeah."

Blake looked over at Malcolm, "Maybe... Maybe you left that little message for me. Or are you gonna say it was the doll too?"

Malcolm looked over at Heather, confused, "What did Brahms do?"

"Blake, please," Heather spoke up, her voice trembling, "you don't understand what's happening. The doll..."

He cut her off, "No. I think I understand exactly what's going on." He spun around, still holding tightly to the Brahms doll.

"Give me the doll!" Malcolm yelled

"What's so special about this damn doll?"

"Blake! Blake, please. No" Heather sobbed as he started swinging the doll around haphazardly, "Blake!"

"Fine." He said simply before grabbing the doll by his feet and slamming him down on the table, smashing his face to bits.

Heather let out a cry at the sight, "No!"

Suddenly the whole room started to rattle and the floor boards began to creak.

"What the hell was that?" Blake asked.

There was a thudding noise above them, "I think we need to leave." Malcolm said slowly as he began to reach out for Heather.

"What's...What's going on?" Blake asked as the lights started flickering and the walls started shaking.

Blake walked forward and placed his ear against a mirror hanging on the wall, trying to listen. "We should... We should really go." Malcolm tried again but was shushed by Blake.

There was creaking behind the mirror "There is something..." all of the sudden the mirror shattered and the force of it sent Blake flying backwards, glass raining down on him.

"Oh shit." Malcolm muttered

"What's happening?" Heather whispered, frightened as she looked down at Blake lying on the floor groaning.

Her head shot up when she heard Brahms calling for her, "Heather?" and she turned to look back at the hole in the wall.

Heather could see the outline of someone standing there, in the hole, but couldn't make out who it was. "Heather." Brahms called for her again as a hand slowly crept out of the hole... Malcolm moved in front of her, "Jesus, what is that?"

The body attached to the hand followed. Then before they knew it a man was standing before them; a very dirty man wearing a mask that replicated the doll's face exactly.

"It's Brahms." Heather breathed in shock.

The sound of her voice caught the man's attention and he looked over at her, staring for a minute. His eyes darted up at the cut on the side of Heather's face; then turned to look at the man on the ground.

Brahms rushed at him.

Malcolm tried to push him back, but Brahms just grabbed a lamp from a nearby table and bashed him in the head with it, knocking him out.

Heather slowly backed away from them, she was in shock. There had been a man living in the walls the whole time she was living here? The real Brahms had never died; the fire was a set up. He had been living in the walls for twenty years. But why?

She watched silently as he began mercilessly beating Blake. Heather didn't even try to stop Brahms as she watched him grab a piece of the doll's face off the table and shove it into Blake's neck; and he kept shoving until Blake stopped moving.

Once Blake was dead, Brahms turned his attention to Heather; Malcolm was still knocked out on the floor, "Heather?" he questioned quietly in a childlike voice, bringing Heather out of her shock.

She looked up at Brahms, who was staring at her almost nervously, then down at Blake on the floor, then back to Brahms, "Brahms..." She breathed out stepping closer to the man.

He just stared at her silently, waiting for her to make the first move.

Heather looked back down at Blake's body, "You...I" she looked up into Brahms' eyes, "...Thank you." She whispered and Brahms cocked his head in shock, "I asked you to help me, and you did. Thank you."

She walked closer to him and hesitantly raised her arms. Brahms watched her cautiously, but didn't try to stop her. Heather took this as a good sign and reached forward to wrap her arms around him in a hug.

She felt him stiffen up under he touch, but then he lifted one arm and wrapped it around her body, though his own never lost the tension and Heather realized that this was probably the first time he had been hugged in twenty years.

Heather stepped back and gave a small smile to him before turning to look at Blake and Malcolm's bodies. What were they going to do about this?


	11. Chapter 11:Where did the Rats come from?

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8a95bfcc4646ff03453b001d61ef1de4"Heather looked up at Brahms, "We need to clean up this mess."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0dd9745fbcdaa3366b8af63d0e8eaa73"He nodded but didn't reply, and simply waited for her instructions./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="689eca1ec713f43371ce5639438e0cb0""Okay," she said, "I'm going to clean up in here and wrap up the body, find another mirror for the wall. I need you to take Malcolm back to his truck and make it look like he fell asleep in there, okay?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc1b7b2b3bd85bac5023377c97c40b0d"Brahms nodded and walked over to lift up Malcolm's body, throwing him over his shoulder, "Brahms," His head snapped in her direction, "Don't kill him. Then who would bring us our groceries?" She joked nervously./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f1ff9ec499bdb9c78001c79568ec17c9"Brahms nodded in understanding and carried Malcolm out of the room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="41f8dcd7a96f2eef208dad2b46c64064"Heather stayed behind and started cleaning up the shards of glass that were everywhere and she wrapped Blake's body up in the rug so the blood wouldn't get on anything else. She then went in search of another mirror to replace the broken one. By the time she found one and had come back into the parlor, Brahms had come and taken Blake's body out./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3a128636200416389d044f88b98c6174"Heather hung the new mirror up and looked around the room only to see the remaining body of the Brahms doll and she let out a groan. How was she supposed to get another one of those dolls?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6f8b59f1d9592a2d774520f5936c3371"She sighed and picked up the pail of glass shards she had swept up and moved them into the kitchen so she could begin trying to pull out all the pieces that belonged to the doll's face. Heather figured that she could at least try and glue it back together./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7ce8083134a6e511b54a9b38187da961"Heather was nearly done collecting all the pieces, when another, bloodier piece was sat down next to her. Heather looked up to see Brahms standing there hovering over her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="17b95419a973675ded8b669010785d91"She smiled and motioned to the chair next to her, "Have a seat Brahms."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="031cc176d6c884b94d28a002546bb99e"He slowly sat down as though she would change her mind at any moment./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a70994f1d3fa64af9de9239e1aaba271""Are you hungry?" She asked as she stood up to wash the bloody porcelain shard./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="49b623df34a5bd005c3e524265f0c885""Yes." He whispered; he was still talking in his childlike persona./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="21c570b2a9fadb1351bde645d66714c3""Alright," Heather smiled over at him and began fixing him a sandwich, "Say," she started, "Did you happen to clean up the mess in the billiard room?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ff2a89c83830350c89dc04f8564703f8"Brahms nodded slowly as he watched her move about the kitchen./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c692142a41d2bf53d406222005e08053""Good," She complimented, "We need to burn Blake's stuff, but I suppose we can do that tomorrow." She sat the plate with his sandwich down in front of him, "Eat up. Once I finish this we need to get to bed."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d0f80f9de6307b019acf6157a46e39d9"Brahms stared at the plate, and then up at her before looking down at the plate. He gingerly touched the cheek of his mask as he once more looked up at Heather./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f94d16471edd2e8240d5c0efc71ee448"She sighed sadly, "Very well, you may take the food into another room and eat if you don't want to remove the mask in front of me." She wanted to see what he looked like./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8658d61a48533c4e3274e84bf3061d0f"Brahms stood up and grabbed his plate and made his way out of the room, "Brahms." He stopped and turned to look at her, "I expect it all finished and for you to bring the plate back to me when your done."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f75c54af18bea771930fe8717befd818"He nodded and walked out of the room. Once he was gone Heather began trying to piece the doll's face back together. She was still trying to process what exactly had happened earlier tonight and why she was helping to hide the murder of her ex./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f3649413e116dc63cfc37aacd43defbb"Heather supposed that in a way it was her fault Blake was dead. She had asked Brahms for help, and even when she thought he was a ghost, how else did she expect that he was going to help her get rid of Blake?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="59810b4a4222a4c93537c071a294854d"Even with finding out the truth, that Brahms wasn't dead and had been living here the whole time, she still felt a sort of kinship with him. Heather had come to realize that all the conversations she had with the doll, the sandwich that was made for her, them playing hid-and-seek. It was all this man./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e12975082777c6fe5a7891a7ccfd00f6"The affection that she had for what she thought was the ghost of Brahms hadn't dissipated at the revelation that he was a full grown man that had been living in the walls./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e7436b40da6725ffbf8913147ee36aec"Heather was brought out of her musings by Brahms re-entering the room. He stood in the doorway awkwardly holding his plate. She smiled up at him from the table where she had gotten a little over half of the face finished, "Place it in the sink, and come help me."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="803ee4a7a92994ddff11d7a16cdf831b"He did as she requested then joined her at the table and began sorting through the pieces of glass./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="634d7114450bd7e89cd5380c941c089e"They worked together quietly for a while until Heather had a thought, "Brahms?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="07a39da33ae0d98f93cd07adfc6e05fc"His head shot up and looked over at her, "Where did you get the rats that you put in Blake's bag? The traps had been empty."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f3158cef888b6230726acc903cd7d0f4"He didn't answer, just sat there watching her quietly. Heather suddenly smiled, "Were you emptying the rat traps for me?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bfdd838588a35a91da58ae597f061f3c"He nodded slowly and turned back to continue working, "Thank you, Brahms. That was very sweet of you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ad99bafff17186939c78db0c4eb8358e"After another two hours of diligent working, they had gotten the doll placed back together as best they could, and you could barely tell it had been broken with just a couple of barely noticeable cracks./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1a922b0c58056ccf9da53b8a4f264826"Heather stood up and stretched before picking the doll up and heading out of the room, "Come along Brahms."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f9c79b727cd5de70571b0220cc61fc32"He stood up and followed behind her as she walked into the doll's bedroom and placed him in bed, and then she turned to the real Brahms and looked him over./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="53402245e955beacb1a70437524121a9""You need a bath and some new clothes." She stated as she looked him over, "Come with me."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="38dcbfa8bedd46485aaa22732ac45d50"She led him to her bathroom and started the shower for him, "Wash up while I go and find you some more clothes, and leave your old ones out here so I can clean them." He nodded and moved to begin undressing as she walked out of the bathroom./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d68905e1465fe748c48bcc0dc8f48a24"Heather went to the Heelshire's bedroom and began digging through the drawers, trying to find something for Brahms to wear. She finally found a t-shirt and some sweat pants that had belonged to Mr. Heelshire for Brahms to wear./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="346bc0e6d36f9a06f656e31202bb554f"She walked back into her room and knocked on the bathroom door, she could still hear the shower running, "Brahms, it's Heather, I found some clothes for you to put on and I'm going to set them on the counter for you to grab when you're finished."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cfdc4d6f2aad3c78612bd196683e7a7a"She opened the bathroom door and placed the clothes down, grabbing his old ones before leaving again. Heather took his stained clothes to the laundry room and started washing them along with the rags that they had used to wash up the blood before heading back to her room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="17da58c2b8e6b2f53e2b00570aa36ce6"When she got there she found Brahms out of the shower, sitting on the edge of her bed. Heather looked over at the clock and saw that it was only a little after three and turned to look at Brahms, "Well I don't know about you, but I am tired." He just sat there watching her, "Would you like to stay with me tonight?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="239bd6d8670278c6d75ad9517599ba43"He nodded slowly, "Alright then, come on." She told him as she climbed into bed and pulled the blanket down on the other side for him. Brahms cautiously made his way over to the bed and got in beside her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f4e1d3ec8e0b9271803c9add10933004"Heather threw the blanket back over him and scooted down, ready to go to sleep./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="08fa18997e252c84db7913f6ec461aeb"She had just closed her eyes when Brahms spoke to her, "Kiss."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c31e7b769ae913b285fd86bea89470e8"Heather's eyes shot open and she looked at Brahms in confusion, "What?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="93c97be235258a818477f7dfe396524c"He continued to stare at her, "Goodnight kiss." He whispered, his childlike voice cracked and let way for his real voice to shine through./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc083130bca42f288e24126d3a481630""Oh," Heather nodded in realization. She sat up and leaned over ready to place a kiss on the mask's cheek, but Brahms tilted his head and instead she kissed the mask's lips./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7bae127b45f88e2410be7697c308b033"Heather was shocked, she thought he had the mindset of an eight year old, but this kiss was proving her wrong. She thought about pulling away but decided against it until Brahms began to exert more force behind the kiss; then she removed her lips and smiled at him, "Goodnight Brahms."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="790803166226e9cc90d87c43f07b1d1d""Goodnight pretty Heather."/p 


	12. Chapter 12: Weirdest Dream

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e05b3bee46fdbb1dd50d1f9bca58e74e"Heather woke up the next morning only to find Brahms wrapped tightly around her, as though he were holding her for dear life. Apparently, he liked to cuddle./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="43eb5685ed7e354dab3a0c07cebb0b6f"She thought about unwrapping herself from him, this was a highly inappropriate position, but she was so comfortable that she decided to just enjoy it. Besides, she wasn't sure how he would react to her unwinding herself./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f9774b59e5bba9a16f1f24d321098fb7"Despite still feeling some affection for Brahms, she also understood that he was very volatile and she didn't want to set him off./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="31d15d7be5dc12f8fd673cc0c16a602c"Heather was just starting to doze back to sleep when she was startled awake by the sound of the front door slamming shut and someone calling out for her, "Heather! Where are you Heather!?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4ce5cd07d17075891a07c9c5fa834bbe"She shot up out of the bed, throwing the arm that Brahms had wrapped around her off, and rushed to her door to lock it before Malcolm could come barging in./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="237d275d062f99300f5c621ef987cdc6"Heather ran back over to her bed, "Brahms, wake up." She shook him gently trying to rouse him awake./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="96d6c328a42176a934e4a7914699cd01"He sat up and looked at her confused; "Heather?" his childlike voice crackled and his mask was a little askew./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4fde08f6c7331bd8b20b582233c7bba7""You need to hide now, Malcolm is here." She whispered urgently./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2af6ec4fb51725745075cd6966934f4d"Brahms gave a quick nod and hopped out of bed, rushing into her closet and shutting the door behind him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a6025214e5d80468ba2c60f91bd81b35"Once Heather was sure he was safely hidden, she unlocked her door and ran out to find Malcolm. They met as he was running up the stairs, "Malcolm, what's wrong?" she asked confused./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1d2d0f7d6b5947b29f28f36eb6ea3296""Where is he?" he asked rushed as he began checking her over to makes sure she was alright./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ebc7d4efc8646e27fe0b50198c0f45c6""Where's who? Malcolm what's going on?" Heather asked in worry./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f7d516b65b2177f6b1a45a810d35b5fd"Malcolm frowned at her as though she had lost her mind, "Where's Brahms?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="43f78c3f1f3456c0dc2f8b5df71feb6a"She pointed up the stairs, "He's in bed asleep. I haven't woken him up yet."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c3c7669e1280cccf34246e7832e605e7"Malcolm moved around her and ran up the stairs to the doll's room, with Heather following closely behind him, "Malcolm will you please tell me what's wrong?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6992a01a18aed2ee9ae755c2d9e26efe"He opened the door and found the doll in one piece lying in bed under the covers. Malcolm stared at the doll in shock before slowly closing the door and turning to face Heather, his face full of confusion./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="57335d5bbccd7d110c917d1e9da966e5"He stared at her for a minute before rushing back down the stairs and into the parlor, Heather once again following behind him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4159688bda1eb0d2d8efacb0518e38d4"Once he got there and saw nothing out of place he released the breath he was holding and let out a shaky laugh, running his hands through his hair nervously./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b460668292a1496e663e7202af3d8858"Heather looked at him curiously, "Malcolm will you please tell me what's going on?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dbd9cca1daca099ae922c31f383ad5ed"He shook his head, "I had the weirdest dream, that's all, and it just felt so real."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7b5465040e50d76fe748fb8025e00d9e"Heather sent him and understanding smile, "Alright then, well let me get Brahms up and I'll make us some breakfast while you tell me all about your weird dream."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="281aac6e4a8a09ace3f32941aceccd98"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="051dd0b61f7c7985eec98496ae6761b5"After Heather had gone back upstairs and gotten herself and the doll dressed, she met Malcolm in the kitchen and the two began making breakfast for them./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cc2ba7ed91894f199f20d81638eeaa56""So," Heather began, "What was this dream about?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3826c6c2cd2116040a6dc934f0b3d450"As they cooked Malcolm began telling her everything that happened the night before, and at the end of his story she let out a small laugh./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="806b4376863b4987e33e50d22fcb19ac""My God," she chuckled as she placed a plate of food in front of him, "That is a crazy dream. Though, it doesn't surprise me that you would dream something like that; what with everything that's been going on lately."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="748a9e1d4e4dd0d20d80113db3b2f65b"Malcolm nodded, "Yeah, can you imagine though? All these years everyone thinking him dead only to find out that he's been living in the walls of his family home this entire time."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="42e30036107d4ca174ed47920e9dbd91"Heather laughed and shook her head, "I'm sure if there was someone living in this house we'd know it by now."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="71148575ef7e5c452363c6b9ef9a4ffb"They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence, and it wasn't until she was washing up the dishes that Malcolm spoke again, "Where's Blake gone to?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bfef84fb7f4c507c0e31e119e2296140"She looked up at him and frowned," I imagine he's still sleeping." /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1569b8c4ca909c77eb9600c64c6624ce"Malcolm nodded in understanding, "What are you going to do about him wanting you to leave with him this afternoon?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f080870d0aad6ff630480e023380bc0b"Heather sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "I'll just tell him that I'm not going with him and if he doesn't take no for an answer, I'll have to call the police."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5e63c65450d3183e80f3c28c6581b776"Malcolm nodded, "That's a good idea. If you want, I'll stay here with you till he's gone."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="768b058caca69ad7612eefd98f6231e5"Heather frowned internally, but looked up at him in confusion, "Can you do that? Doesn't the store need you to open it?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0f64933f43948803772266af1d8ff31a""Damn," he muttered, "I completely forgot about that."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="738a7a7a6b307e6303e70dcd4ab51352"Heather gave him a reassuring smile, "Go on, I'll be fine on my own and if anything happens you'll be the second person I call, after the police of course." They both chuckled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="41f1eb13752d790283e52f9ea9f1c923"Malcolm nodded, "Alright, if you're sure." He leaned forward and gave her forehead a small kiss, "Call me as soon as he leaves, alright?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2474d7e50bd5ca610b731fefecda514b"Heather smiled up at him, "Promise."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="82c4c12e7fcd077df9e31c48ede510f3"Once Malcolm was finally gone, Heather breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, they had gotten away with it. She then moved out of the kitchen in search of Brahms, leaving the doll behind./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6690b17047a012de7106f3e9555d9dc2"Heather rushed back up to her room and opened her closet door, "Brahms you ca..." she trailed off. He was gone. She looked around the closet in confusion before noticing a piece of the wall was poking out a bit farther than the others./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a0c9c879a2586fc091240c3a5caa7cb2"She walked over the wall and gently pushed on the piece only for it to swing open, showing Heather a secret tunnel, and she realized that this was how Brahms had been moving around the house without anyone noticing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c0bd510ddc452827a7dde0385b95731b"She stepped inside the wall and began following the hallway, figuring that it would lead her to wherever Brahms was hiding. She followed the path for a bit until it led her to a door that was slightly ajar and light was coming from the other side of the door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9bdd2119d98a80fee3ac20249bc9ac5d"Heather gingerly pushed the door open and found what seemed to be a small apartment on the other side. This must have been where Brahms lived. There was a little kitchen area with a fridge and microwave and a sink. On the other side there was a bathroom with a toilet and small shower./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c3bac5886414565a212776ba86f42aa2"Then there was a small dining room table next to the kitchen stacked high with books, and right beside it is some stairs leading to a second floor./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="91b81de89979c02e2c3c30e03537faf9"On the other side of the room there was a small bed with something lying on top of it. It was about the size of a person, but it was too small to be Brahms./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ef409938df0c5965f8c40a431dc46801"Heather started moving closer to it and the closer she got the more she began to realize that it wasn't a person at all, but a life size doll, and that doll was wearing her navy blue dress and a wig that matched the color of her hair perfectly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d446a5efb5a7d8be3eedc07865321dc1"Heather also noticed that there was a packet of tissues lying next to the doll and one was used, crumpled up next to it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="eff304c01c5fa8faae53bda8c5854a18"Heather stared at the doll in horror, "Oh my God." She breathed out, shocked./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3ba75ac8c34b7cb2b9b1c3e52a027bb1"She stumbled away from the bed and turned to leave only to see a letter lying on the bedside table. Heather picked it up and seeing that it was from the Heelshires, she began reading it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5c6c90739ff83fbe34cf8a474c9aa56a"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Our Dearest Son,/em/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="780ed7b262637aec04a1bb3cc5e85050"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Words cannot describe out heartbreak as we leave you now./em/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3c9937b7b558ef3ec7ab3e832339c3b7"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"We will not be back. We simply cannot bear to live with what we have/span/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="970f377a556cc454257112c6c9036318"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"allowed you to become. You are not the son we hoped to have./span/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c205c6e9ec6d15fb9f6ccf24e3e3a861"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"The girl is yours now. She is yours to love and care for, and/span/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fbac80004dfe226955bd6feedc770978"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"to continue on the family name with. Treat her well./span/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="133c8326baf781307199136f2dffc89d"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"God forgive us all/span/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f475e907ae8eb3bbd9e64ff9e8ae84c3"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Love always,/em/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="938c553708040934d6bea5bbeaf539ba"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Mummy and Daddy XXX/span/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6f458cdb0dfe86be084d6c2559b58542"Heather's hands were shaking by the time she finished reading the letter and she gently set it back down. She turned to look at the doll once more before stumbling out of the room and back the way she came./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7e5fa69d2c4d79c4183f67e153082dfe"She moved back down the tunnel and exited through the opening in her closet, shutting the door behind her./p 


	13. Chapter 13: We need to talk

Heather stumbled over to her bed and sat down as she tried to process what she had just found. What had she just seen? What had she read?

Part of her was scared out of her mind. The man had a life size doll of her lying on his bed and it didn't take a genius to figure out what he had been using it for, and his parents had just 'given her to him' as though she were an inanimate object. Part of her wanted to get up right then and make a run for it.

But, there was another part of Heather that felt sorry for Brahms. His parents had abandoned him inside the walls of their home forcing him to learn how to raise himself, and they replaced him with a doll that would never change. So for twenty years he wasn't allowed to age past that of an eight year old boy.

He had gone through all the milestones of growing up all alone probably not knowing what was happening to him, and the Heelshires were too caught up in their illusions to help the boy along.

She sighed as she made her decision, "Heather, you are an idiot." She scolded herself and she stood and left the room.

"Brahms!" Heather called as she began making her way down the stairs, "Brahms?" She was nearly to the bottom of the stairs when Brahms popped up from around the corner.

"God!" she gasped, placing a hand over her chest, "You scared me." She chuckled nervously.

He just cocked his head and stood there staring at her.

"Um, what... where did you go?" She asked as she moved past him towards the study.

"Traps" he murmured childishly as he followed behind her.

Heather sighed as she moved to sit, "Sit down, Brahms."

Brahms walked over and sat down on the couch next to her, his eyes never leaving her face, "What's wrong Heather?" he asked.

Heather turned to look at him, "Brahms, do you know how old you are?"

He shook his head and cocked it in confusion so she continued, "Brahms, you're twenty-eight years old."

She watched his eyes widen a bit, but he wasn't freaking out so she decided to continue, "I know your mommy and daddy probably liked it better when you talked like little Brahms, but you don't have to do that with me, okay? You can talk like a big boy."

He watched her curiously for a moment before hesitantly nodding his head, "Okay." He answered in his real voice. It was deep and husky, but also a bit gravelly from disuse.

Heather felt a shiver go down her back, but ignored it, "Good, now that that's out of the way we need to talk." She took a deep breath, "Brahms I found your room inside the wall."

Brahms' eyes got huge under his mask and jumped to his feet breathing deeply in anger. Heather's own eyes widened in fright, but she tried to control herself. She knew that if she freaked out he would too.

"Sit down, Brahms." She commanded, "We're not done talking."

He took a deep breath and tensely sat back down.

"First I would like to apologize for entering your room uninvited. I didn't mean to go in there. I was looking for you after Malcolm left and stumbled in there by accident." Heather explained and that seemed to calm Brahms down a bit.

"Good, now we need to discus the doll you made of me on your bed," She started nervously and Brahms began shifting in his seat. He was embarrassed.

"Brahms, why do you have that doll?" She asked him calmly.

Brahms shrugged silently.

Heather sighed, "If you don't want to answer me then that is just fine, I know what you use the doll for."

He still wouldn't look up at her. He was ashamed to have been caught.

"I also found the letter from your parents." She started and saw his hands clench, "I know they gave me to you."

He nodded and looked up at her then, "They said you're mine now."

Ooh that voice did things to her that Heather was not proud of, "Yes I saw that. But Brahms I'm a person, not an object. Your parents had not right to just give me to you."

He tensed up at that put she placed her hand down on top of his, "But I would like to stay here with you, if you'll let me, and I could help you learn how to be a big boy."

Brahms was nodding his head before she had even finished talking, "Yes Heather, please stay?"

Heather nodded at him, "I will, but if I'm going to stay then there are a few more things we need to discus."

He cocked his head; Heather was getting real tired of not being able to see in expression, "Like what?"

"Well for starters," She began, "I was thinking that instead of taking care of the doll, I could take care of you instead, and only use the doll when Malcolm comes over."

He watched her for a moment as he thought over her proposition, until finally he nodded his head, "Okay."

Heather smiled at him, "Good, and now one more thing. What do you think about getting rid of the mask?"

He reached his hand up and touched it gently, "Why?"

She then paused and asked, "Well, why do you wear the mask, Brahms?"

"Mummy and daddy said I had to wear the mask, so I could stay little Brahms forever." He answered her sadly.

Heather felt so bad for him, his parents had forced him to remain their little boy forever and had severely stunted his mental growth because of it, "Well," She said slowly, "If I'm going to help you be a big boy, then you need to have a big boy's face. So we need to get rid of the mask."

Brahms sat there mulling over her words for a moment before finally nodding, "Okay." He then slowly reached up and grabbed the bottom of the mask and began pulling it up over his head.

Once he finally had it completely off Heather could do nothing but sit there and stare.

She gaped openly as she observed his sharp jaw, chin, and cheekbones; his skin was like flawless porcelain. On either side of his straight nose were two blazing hazel eyes. Spiked, warm brown fringed with smooth green. His dark brows were actually graceful, but currently furrowed in a frown. All of it was framed by thick, warm dark chocolate curls, and a thick beard.

After a while Brahms began shifting nervously, "Heather?" he questioned.

She shook herself from her stupor and smiled up at him, "Brahms," she breathed, "you're so handsome."

Her words causing a blush to rise to the man's face.


	14. Chapter 14: One month later

After that day in the parlor, life continued on pretty normally for Heather and Brahms, the only difference was that instead of having to carry a doll around all day, she had a grown man following behind her everywhere she went.

Heather was trying to work with him on how to behave like a grown man and not like the little boy his parents had forced him to be his whole life, She had Brahms move into the guest room right next to her own since she didn't want him living in the walls anymore and he didn't want to go back to his childhood bedroom.

Brahms was still requesting that she tuck him in at night as well as give him his goodnight kiss, and though she tried to stop him, he always managed to shift his head at the last second and their lips would touch.

She thought about trying to wean him off their nightly ritual, but had decided to hold off on that for now; mainly because Heather secretly enjoyed their small goodnight kiss, though she felt ashamed for admitting so.

It was a month later and the two of them were in the study reading together when they heard the front door slam shut, "Heather?" Malcolm called out.

Just like every time before Brahms slipped into the walls to hide while Heather moved towards the kitchen to greet Malcolm.

"Good afternoon, Malcolm." She greeted entering the kitchen.

Malcolm looked up at her and smiled brightly, "And a very good afternoon to you as well."

Heather walked over and began helping him unload the groceries. The two worked in silence for a few moments before one of them spoke up.

"So how has everything been this week? Brahms giving you any trouble?" He questioned with a nervous smile. While she had been able to hide the fact that Brahms was still alive, Malcolm was still under the impression that the doll was possessed and was constantly inquiring as to whether she was alright.

Heather chuckled, "Everything has been just fine, and he has been a perfectly well behaved boy."

"That's good to hear," He nodded, "Where's the little bugger at then?"

"I just put him down for a nap." She motioned up to the second floor.

He hummed and nodded in understanding, "Have you heard anything from Blake since he left?"

Heather froze for a fraction of a second but recovered quickly and shrugged, "Not since he left here. I was honestly surprised at how easy it was to get him to leave."

Malcolm nodded in agreement, "I know, I thought for sure you were going to have to call the police to get him out of here."

She gave him a shaky smile, "I know." and they lapsed back into silence.

Finally after they were done unloading the groceries Malcolm turned to face her and gave a nervous smile.

"So Heather," He began and she looked over at him curiously, "I know we've talked about it before but everything was kind of hectic then, what with you just getting here and settling in." Heather waited patiently for Malcolm to reach him point, "So I was thinking you might finally let me take you out on that date." He finished hopefully.

Heather stared at him for a minute as she tried to figure out how to respond. She liked Malcolm, really she did, but she didn't care for him in the way he obviously wanted her to. He was her best friend, and besides she was kind of busy battling with her emotions towards Brahms.

She had developed a deep attraction for the man child, but she had been hesitant to do anything about it, worrying that she would be taking advantage of his innocent mind.

"Malcolm," She sighed and gave him a small smile, "I care about you, but you're my best friend, and I don't want to jeopardize our relationship by trying to create something that just isn't there. You're a great guy, and handsome too; you'll find somebody... but I'm just not that someone."

Malcolm deflated a bit at her confession but nodded his head, "I understand." He picked up his crate and jacket and began heading for the door, "I'll, uh, I'll see you around, yeah?" and with that he walked out of the house and to his car.

Heather sighed sadly, she hated hurting Malcolm, but she just didn't have those feelings for him.

"Heather..." Brahms called quietly from the doorway, "Are you okay?"

She nodded and turned to face him with a small smile, "Yes Brahms, I'm fine." She walked over to him, "Come on let's go finish that chapter."

The two walked back into the study and continued where they left off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During dinner that night Heather looked over at her companion, "Brahms, can I ask you something?"

He looked up at her and nodded.

She took a breath, "What happened to Emily Cribbs?"

Brahms just stared at her for a minute and Heather was starting to get worried, when he finally answered quietly, "Emily didn't follow the rules."

Heather tensed up at his answer and reached over and grasped his hand, "Brahms, did you hurt Emily?"

He shook his head emphatically, "No, no I didn't hurt Emily. She didn't follow rules and that's why she died."

"Tell me what happened, Brahms." She demanded softly.

He sighed, "We were playing by the river and Emily wanted to climb the big tree that the swing hung from, but we weren't supposed to climb trees alone in case we got hurt. I told Emily that we had to follow the rules or else we'd get into trouble, but she wouldn't listen and climbed to the very top of the tree."

"What happened then?" Heather asked quietly, though she had a feeling she already knew what happened.

"I told her to get down or I would tell mummy and daddy, but she didn't listen. I finally talked her into coming down, but she decided to jump instead." He frowned sadly, "When she hit the ground, she twisted her ankle and fell, and she hit her head on a big rock. I tried to wake her up but she wouldn't move, so I ran home to tell mummy and daddy. But they didn't believe me when I told them what happened. They thought I hurt her, but I didn't do it."

Heather looked over at him, "Oh Brahms." She stood up and walked around the table to hug him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day Heather and Brahms were in the kitchen making breakfast, well Heather was making breakfast while Brahms sat at the table and watched.

"Heather?" Brahms spoke up as he watched her move about the kitchen.

She looked over at him and smiled, "Yes?"

"What's a date?"

Heather stopped mixing the batter and turned to face him, "What do you mean?"

"Well," He started and frowned curiously, "When Malcolm was here yesterday, he asked you to go on a date with him but you said no. I was just wondering what a date was?"

"Oh," She said simply as she tried to figure out how to explain it to him, "You see Brahms, when two people really like each other as more than friends, sometimes they will go on dates so they can get to know each other better and see if they could be compatible in a relationship, and eventually as time goes on and they continue dating they can fall in love and possibly get married in the future."

He was quiet for a moment as he thought over the information she had just given him. Finally, he looked over at Heather and asked, "Would you go on a date with me?"

Heather stared at him in shock, "You...I... You want to go on a date with me?"

He simply nodded his head and smiled at her hopefully.

"Brahms," She sighed, "I would love to go on a date with you, but I don't think it would be right of me to."

Brahms looked down sadly, "Why not?"

She opened and closed her mouth several times before answering, "Well, because I don't think you completely understand what dating is, and so I would be taking advantage of you by agreeing to go on a date."

"I understand what dating is," He said seriously, standing to his feet, "Dating leads to love, which leads to marriage; and marrying someone is what you do when you want to be with them forever."

He was standing so close to her now, the two of them just staring into each other's eyes. Heather felt her breath catch at how utterly handsome this man was.

"So," He began bending his face down closer to hers, "Will you go on a date with me, Heather?"

She stood there contemplating for several minutes, while she would love to date Brahms, Heather still couldn't shake the feeling that she was taking advantage of his childlike mind. But standing there waiting for her answer, he looked so hopeful. Heather didn't want to see that crushed look appear on his face.

"I..." She hesitated, still trying to make up her mind, finally, she smiled up at him and nodded, "Yes, Brahms. I would love to go on a date with you."


End file.
